Health Network News

Of the independent sectors that have done more than survive the Supermarket threat, few have fared better than Retail Pharmacy.

Because average turnover proportions have changed significantly over the years from something in the region of 50/50, dispensing to retail to more like 80/20 there has been a corresponding re-configuration in the use of space within pharmacies who have updated.

Times have changed. With the vast range of items naturally thought of as Chemist items being very competitively available in the Supermarket, margins became squeezed and sales plummeted.

Two factors remained in the Pharmacist’s favour:
The need to have a licence to open a pharmacy
The continuing restriction on pharmacy only medicines.

These constraints meant that the community pharmacy still had protection from being crushed by the Giants. It also resulted in a shift of the demographics of most pharmacy outlets, such that the Dispensary areas increased in size and the retail areas correspondingly reduced. Prescription rates have increased considerably and there have been many changes in the market as a whole, but generally Community pharmacy has done better than survive.

In particular, one could say that pharmacy has generally proven pretty recession proof, maybe even to the extent that it has profited from the higher volume of sickness originating directly from recession.

Pharmacies who currently operate, in general have made significant changes to the arrangements of their premises by refitting to account for the market moves.

This has resulted in the consequential re-alignment of interior space form retail to Dispensary and to include more patient services such as consultation rooms, providing medical testing services and taking particular account of DDA Disability requirements by employing such things as automatic entrance doors etc.

The needs and demands of operating Community or Surgery based Pharmacy are manifold. It is therefore essential that any Design and Fit out partner chosen for a refurbishment, has the up to date knowledge and understanding to account for all the aspects involved.

Ensuring that the Dispensary area, the heart of any Pharmacy, is designed for efficiency and accounting for current and future needs is essential. Accounting for trend changes of the recent past and looking towards the needs of the future as well as consulting with all parties to any project are important ingredients.

The most essential first requirement is to get the balance right. Doing this requires the understanding of experienced design and fitting expertise and knowing what the market can provide. A failure to account for this element at the early stage in any project can be a costly oversight.