Time or quality? Giving patients the time they deserve

This is a difficult question, but you must be honest about how you spend and value your time. To make quality time for patients, you must:

• Establish objectives €“ what do you want your practice to deliver within the next 12 months?
• Achieve value €“ how will you allocate your time to the right activities?
• Delegate responsibly €“ which activities are you prepared to give to others?
• Lose some of your workload €“ decide what you are prepared to drop or carry out differently?
• We cannot magically create time, but we can focus on the right things to do.

For example, P3's website, p3pharmacy.co.uk, provides many resources for planning, setting goals and objectives. It is never easy to set goals in a busy work environment, so set some time aside outside work instead. Identify three objectives that you want to achieve within the coming 12 months.

It is easy to get caught up in the humdrum of daily work life and allow non-value-adding activities to occupy our time. These activities could be done by someone else, or perhaps are not necessary. Consider: 

• How much are you worth per hour?
• How much time do you spend on activities that could easily be undertaken by others? Do these activities deliver value? Do they reflect what your time is worth? 
• How much time do you spend skilling others to support responsible delegation?
• Do you have the right staff with the right skills to support your goals?
• Which activities deliver no value? What tasks will you discontinue?

The patient experience

Have you ever charted the journey of a patient through your pharmacy?

There are plenty of areas to look at. For example, how do patients engage with you? Do they receive the quality of service they deserve?

As an owner and/or pharmacy manager, you should consider every entry point for a patient, including dispensing, OTC advice, MURs and other consultation-room services. How seamless is that journey? Has the patient benefited from that experience?

I recently visited a national pharmacy chain, where I requested two P medicines. At no point during the transaction was I asked any questions around my current medicine use or provided with any advice on potential side effects. My journey and experience were pretty poor, and more importantly, there was no warmth to the interaction. The service was fast and convenient, but because there was little interaction, the quality was disappointing.

The customer or patient journey is often referred to as the 'moment of truth' (MOT). Many other industries, such as airlines, have worked to closely track this experience, identifying barriers and challenging any factors that deliver negative moments of truth.

One patient study in the healthcare sector revealed that:

• Six of 10 negative experiences are more likely to be remembered for longer in the healthcare industry compared to other industries
• Staff attitude was cited as the main contributor to positive moments of truth by 70 per cent of healthcare consumers
• Personal experience is the top reason for choosing a healthcare provider
• Fifty-seven per cent of patients place a high value on the education they receive during a visit.⁴

To improve the patient experience in your pharmacy, consider:

• How many engagement points are there with your patients? 
• What does the journey look like from your front door to point of accessing a service, product and/or information? What barriers or factors reduce the quality of this journey? 
• How do your employees engage with patients requesting OTC advice and/ or products? How do they respond to requests? 
• Do you feel that you offer a valued service? 
• What journey does the patient follow when engaging with your dispensing services?