Innovating Pharmacy Practice: A Bold Approach to Staff and Patient Care

3 days ago

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In this episode of Pharmacy View Podcast’s Full Scope Pharmacy Leadership stream, host, Chantelle Turner, a Pharmacist Leadership and Business Coach at TURN Pharmacy Leadership, speaks with Kristina Fox, a Community Pharmacist and Pharmacy owner of Complete Care Pharmacy, Rosny Park. Kristina shares their transformative journey in reshaping Complete Care Pharmacy in Rosny Park. Kristina’s passion for implementing innovative healthcare services led to the creation of a scalable Pharmacy model, one that expanded far beyond their initial intentions. They reflect on the challenges of managing change, addressing staff burnout, and overcoming operational inefficiencies that hindered patient care. The conversation highlights how leadership and innovation in community Pharmacy can drive meaningful change.

Pharmacy View Podcast · EP 110 -Pharmacy View Podcast -Innovating Pharmacy Practice: A Bold Approach to Staff & Patient Care

Kristina describes their approach to innovation as one of problem-solving rather than entrepreneurship. They focus on identifying inefficiencies and seeking practical solutions, which led to a complete overhaul of systems, processes, and Pharmacy layouts. The success of this transformation was due to the collective effort of the team, including Pharmacists, Pharmacy assistants, and front-of-shop staff. Kristina credits their support network, both professionally and personally, as a major factor in the success of the model.

A major turning point for Kristina’s team was realising that merely adding more staff was not enough to improve operations. Facing operational chaos and the growing complexity of prescriptions, Kristina introduced a “digital basket” system to balance digital, paper, and vaccination requests. This idea prompted a shift from reactive problem-solving to a more visionary approach. Kristina sought the expertise of industry professionals to identify the right technology partners, and while initially facing resistance from developers, achieving even partial success was seen as a significant victory.

Kristina advocates for starting rather than waiting for a perfect plan. They believe that large corporations often become paralysed by decision-making, whereas their Pharmacy embraced an iterative approach, launching a version one and refining it based on real-world feedback. Kristina also discusses how this approach applied to the development of the Complete Care Pharmacy model, emphasising the importance of risk-taking, continuous improvement, and teamwork in driving innovation within Pharmacy practice.

Effective communication is another key theme Kristina explores in leadership. By engaging all team members in the process of change, from delivery drivers to senior partners, they facilitated a smoother transition to the new Pharmacy model. Activities such as fun team events, open discussions, and regular check-ins helped ensure ongoing feedback and fostered team morale. Kristina’s approach to communication included structured input from staff, such as “Shark Tank”-style pitch sessions, which allowed for innovation-driven decisions within the team.

Kristina’s passion for reshaping community Pharmacy extends to their vision for a patient-centred approach that moves away from a volume-driven model. They believe that providing accessible, affordable healthcare and fostering happier Pharmacists are integral to improving patient outcomes. With the rise of automation and AI in Pharmacy practice, Kristina highlights the importance of emotional intelligence and effective communication in maintaining strong relationships within Pharmacy teams and with patients. By sharing their insights and offering support to others, Kristina hopes to inspire further industry-wide change.

Topics Covered

Transformation of Complete Care Pharmacy
Challenges in Change Management
Problem-Solving and Innovation
Team Effort in Transformation
Digital Basket System
Iterative Progress and Risk-Taking
Effective Communication in Pharmacy Leadership
Staff Engagement and Innovation
Patient-Centred Approach
Emotional Intelligence and Automation

Key Quotes (Time Stamps)

“The reason I got into the Pharmacy ownership space was because I wanted to be able to implement different things in a community Pharmacy setting that would benefit the health of my community at large.” (3:10 – 3:21)

“I don’t see myself as an entrepreneur at all. I know some people do say that to me at the moment, but I don’t think of myself as that. I think of myself as someone who likes to—if there’s a problem that I’m facing, then I like to try and find a solution to that problem. So, I think I’m—someone actually described me recently as a fault finder, and that’s probably what I am.” (5:32 – 5:55)

“The only way that we could actually come up with a model to improve it was to completely scratch what we were doing previously and then completely change—from layout to systems to processes. We just had to completely change what we were doing. But I think I’m just very fortunate that I’ve got a really good team at home in my home life and a really good team at work and that allows me to come up with innovative solutions for community Pharmacy.” (6:32 – 7:00)

“I think a lot of people have good ideas, but people are too scared to implement it because they want to analyse everything to the minutia. But we don’t know if we don’t try, we don’t know what we don’t know. So, you have to just give it a go.” (11:57 – 12:11)

“It was really important to us to bring our entire team, every single person from our delivery driver, through to one of the Pharmacist partners along on the journey.” (14:48 – 14:59)

“I agree that some leaders might not want to have too many cooks in the kitchen. But if it’s not something that’s going to impact anyone else and it’s only going to improve other people’s day, then why wouldn’t we listen to what other people have got to bring to the table?” (22:52 – 23:05)

“I love as many ideas as possible because I think that’s the way that you can have continuous improvement.” (25:45 – 25:51)

“As Pharmacists and as owners, I think part of the problem is that we’ve often been really time poor. So, the reason why communication is not so good is not because we’re not trying. It’s just because we are so busy in our day to day that we go, I’m going to talk to that staff member about X, Y, Z, and then all of a sudden, the week is gone and you never made that 2 minute to have that conversation.” (28:28 – 28:52)

“A big thing that we’ve done is gone and found out from the team what it is that they want to do in the model. We completely changed our roles and responsibilities and we upskilled our staff. So, what we did was we listened to them. Pharmacists wanted to be on the floor recommending and providing solutions to patients. So, we listened to them and we got them on the floor working in the pods face to face, doing consultations.” (33:47 – 34:14)

“I’m all about timely and affordable access to health care which is why as part of complete care, every patient’s got access to a nurse practitioner every hour that a pharmacy’s open. That’s huge to me. And making it affordable. So, for me, it’s about changing community Pharmacy. And look, we could have just done it here at Rosey, but my purpose is if we can implement this model well at Rosny and then other people can adapt to this model and we can change the way we’re practicing in our Pharmacy so that we’ve got happier Pharmacists, happier Pharmacy teams, happier patients, then, we can improve health of communities.” (36:55 – 37:32)

“So, my purpose is about providing innovative solutions to community Pharmacy so that they can improve health outcomes of their patients. And that’s what I want to do. And I want to make community Pharmacy sustainable into the future. So, purpose is big for me and I think it’s really big for our team as well. Every team member that works here knows the reason why we’re doing this.” (37:49 – 38:11)

“We know full scope is coming, but we already have our own scope in community Pharmacy, which is all about front of practice, all those minor ailments the patient’s coming to us for, or they don’t even know that they can come to us for. And let us start charging more for our advice for minor ailment stuff and let’s start flipping from just prescriptions to service in community Pharmacy and have a way that we can do that. And that’s why we became Pharmacists in the first place, is because we thought we’d be providing health solutions to patients, not putting labels on boxes and checking prescriptions.” (48:17 – 48:49)

“When I say communication, it’s a two-way communication. So, making sure you communicate what you’re thinking with them, but also equally that you give them the opportunity to speak and communicate to you so that you’re listening to them as well.” (51:19 – 51:32)

Important Time Stamps

Revolutionising Community Pharmacy: Kristina Fox’s Journey (0:49 – 5:07)
Not an Entrepreneur? Kristina Fox Says It’s All About Problem-Solving! (5:25 – 10:29)
Just Start! The Power of Taking Action in Pharmacy (10:33 – 13:30)
The Secret to Pharmacy Leadership? Communication & Collaboration! (13:31 – 21:21)
Giving Pharmacy Teams a Voice—And Actually Listening! (21:40 – 25:55)
Upskilling and Empowering: The Future of Pharmacy Roles (25:57 – 29:23)
Why Purpose is the Key to Transforming Community Pharmacy (30:01 – 39:20)
Why AI is Making Emotional Intelligence More Important Than Ever (39:40 – 50:31)
Communication: The Key to Unlocking Pharmacy Leadership Success (50:35 – 54:01)