The six finalists in the 2022 Pharmacy of the Year awards have been announced by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. The finalists are:
- Cooleman Court Pharmacy ACT
- Amcal Life Clinic Pharmacy Donnybrook WA
- Wizard Pharmacy Kalgoorlie Central WA
- Blooms the Chemist Orange NSW
- Karen Carter Chemist Gunnedah NSW
- TerryWhite Chemmart Rosny Park TAS
The prestigious competition aims to find the country’s top pharmacy which is recognised and celebrated for its achievements.
It acknowledges the most innovative and adaptable pharmacy businesses that have worked under the most challenging situations to meet the needs of their patients and their community by providing comprehensive, holistic health services, medication safety and advice, through well-managed pharmacies.
For the first time, nominations for the 2022 competition were open to the general public resulting in over 2,000 nominations being received – a significant increase in previous years.
Spokesperson for the judging group and Senior National Vice-President of the Guild, Nick Panayiaris, said the competition highlighted the communities awareness of their local pharmacies and how community pharmacies were committed to increasing the use of innovation while constantly introducing more patient services.
“The judging this year was more difficult than ever not only because of the excellence of the applicants but because of how they have continued to provide and build on service provision while meeting the increasing demands presented by the pandemic,’ he said.
Jonathan Biddle, General Manager of the principal sponsors of the award, Care Pharmaceuticals, said the award this year was all the more significant because of the challenges and difficulties faced by community pharmacies during the pandemic.
“Despite everything these finalists have continued to stay open and produce the services and advice their communities need while also applying innovative practices and processes to build their businesses and ensure patient needs are met,” he said. “They are true ambassadors for the community pharmacy sector.”
The award is open to Pharmacy Guild members who can enter in the three categories:
- Excellence in Business Management
- Excellence in Community Engagement
- Excellence in Professional Innovation
Category winners will be announced at the 2022 APP Conference, along with the overall Guild Pharmacy of the Year winner, to be held on 24-27 March 2022 at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.
