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Fifty years of teambuilding

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Fifty years of teambuilding

The winner of the Pharmacy Team of the Year Award was Fishers Chemist of South Norwood.

The pharmacy was established over 100 years ago and the owner, Alan Kurtz, has worked there for 50 years. There are more than 30 members of staff, including six pharmacists.

Fishers Chemist is accredited as a Healthy Living Pharmacy, has an Investors in People award, a Customer First Award and an ISO 9001 service quality accreditation. The pharmacy is open for over 80 hours a week, with three or
four pharmacists and two pre-registration students usually present. Most members of staff are healthy living champions.

Alan Kurtz receives his award from Dr Bruce Warner and Mike Lake of Tena

“Good team-working is the key,” said Mr Kurtz. The pharmacy has communications boards, meetings, newsletters and training sessions for staff. Formal meetings take place separately for pharmacists, dispensers, counter staff and management at least four times a year and are all minuted.

“We try to empower our people and encourage them to offer opinions and help make decisions for the benefit of the organisation and our patients.”

A Fishers communication channel on WhatsApp includes all staff phone numbers and provides a forum for ideas and suggestions and a vehicle for passing on information. All team members have a training and development plan, and formal training takes place at least four times a year.

“We encourage people to train for whatever they want, within reason. So counter as well as dispensary staff can take blood pressure readings, pierce ears, and show young people how to use condoms (under the C-card scheme).

“People are encouraged to train from NVQ2 to NVQ3 and to ACT in the dispensary. We subscribe to a web-based CPD system and staff are given protected time each month to use it.”

Pharmacy had changed beyond all recognition. But what had not changed was that independent community pharmacists were the cornerstones of the communities that they served. They were integral parts of the community.

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