Technology shines during pandemic

One of the few positives to be seen from the abrupt changes needed to deal with the pandemic has been the increased uptake of technology in many pharmacies in WA.

And according to Michelle McAnuff, proprietor of Brentwood Pharmacy in WA, the combination of this technology, and the speed with which the State’s Health Department has facilitated its implementation, has made a world of difference.

“The enhanced use of technology arising from the pandemic is fantastic,” she said.

“The quick adoption of a lot of the changes, particularly by the WA Health Department, has made a massive difference to us.

“On top of that, the Department has a great relationship with the WA Branch of the Guild.

“One result of this relationship is that there has been regular communication to pharmacies. During the early days of the pandemic, we received a daily email containing the relevant facts or information about regulatory changes, information about COVID, and anything that was happening.

“This communication has been great and has enabled us to focus on just that information and wipe out all the other white noise coming from other organisations and commentators.

“We have had cold hard facts from the Health Department and information from the Guild, and this made my life a lot easier. I wasn’t sitting reading through emails constantly – I could actually go out and deal with day-to-day issues in my pharmacy.”

Brentwood Pharmacy is located in the Perth metropolitan area, which has a diverse socio-economic population, including a lot of vulnerable people.

To ensure the pharmacy was able to keep operating and looking after this diverse community, the staff separated into teams for nearly three months.

“We actually physically shut off the medication packing area from the rest of the pharmacy. This meant closing off part of our storeroom and staff area and preventing access from the general pharmacy staff to those areas.

“We had people packing that had no cross-contact with any of the customer service pharmacy staff.

“Our Dose Administration Aids were checked off-site, with patient records being remotely updated using additional software to keep everything separate.

“We also separated the dispensary and the shop floor into two teams.

“The staff worked three to four day shifts at a time and then swapped over. Cleaning increased between shifts.

“The use of technology was evident here as well. We used rostering software to prevent errors with the wrong person being rostered onto a team, and also to facilitate general communication and maintain continuity when teams swapped over. It was draining but we managed to get through it.”

Part of the pharmacy’s operations involve supplying ships supporting the State’s huge oil and gas industry.

“We also have a lot of mining and mining support in WA with their offices in Perth. Much of the supply of medical items come from the city and get shipped out to the vessels or to mine sites.

“From our perspective, it’s interesting seeing the whole supply chain for this sector in operation because they are obviously not reacting just to things that are happening – they have to be prepared for anything possible that can happen in remote locations and be ready to act on that. Our role is to help them do that.”

Ms McAnuff said ensuring the welfare of the staff was a priority at all times.

“One way we did this was by making sure everybody had a chance to debrief at the end of their shifts,” she said.

“I know people left a bit later because they were stopping and chatting.

“Most of us have got good support at home, but where there wasn’t a support system or it was a pharmacy specific issue, we were there to support each other and debrief.

“We talked about different situations with rude or aggressive customers, which I think everybody had to deal with in any industry that was still functioning.

“Talking and discussing ways to deal with people didn’t prevent the problems but I think we all felt supported in dealing with such situations.

“It helped when you had to face a situation and the rest of the staff would gather around as back-up or be there to talk once the situation was diffused.

“It really made you feel supported when things were difficult.”