Helping you deliver patient-centred care with the latest news and essential information about key products and developments in store.
Diabetes Week 2021
This year, Diabetes Week takes place 14-20 June. For 2021, the theme is empowering people to live well with diabetes through sharing their #DiabetesStories. Visit www.diabetes.org.uk/get_involved/diabetes-week for more information. To get you prepared for Diabetes Week, click on Managing diabetes below. We give you our top tips on how you can support customers to live well with diabetes through advice, products and services at Boots.
Pharmacy in Scotland
Our interviewee for June is Scott Jamieson, Scottish Pharmacy Partnership Manager. He talks us through how pharmacy in Scotland differs from the rest of the UK and gets us up to speed on the national service, NHS Pharmacy First. He also fills us in on the opportunities for independent prescribing in Scotland, and how that could shape the future of Scottish pharmacy. Click on the interview below to find out more.
Click the boxes below for product updates and news.
- Products & updates
- Lateral Flow Device
Distribution Service
- Pharmacy marketing
- Managing diabetes
- Interview
Boots Daily Nail Boost
Item code: 89-02-321
A daily boost of nail nutrients to promote nail health and appearance from the inside.*
- Expertly formulated oral tablets
- Contains high level selenium, which helps promote overall nail appearance and normal nail growth
- With vitamins A, C and E
- Free from lactose and artificial colours, flavours and preservatives
- Suitable for vegetarians and vegans
- Not suitable for children under 12 years.
Directions for use: Take one tablet per day with plenty of liquid. Do not exceed the daily dose.
Boots Staydry Black
Discreet Underwear for Women
Item codes: S/M: 27-96-015; L: 27-96-074
Boots Staydry's most discreet underwear is now available in black.
- Designed for those with light to moderate bladder weakness
- Premium, elasticated fabric contours to the body, giving a close, secure fit when active
- Unique† Hydromagnet absorbent core technology attracts and locks moisture and odour away from the skin in seconds, leaving the surface of the product drier than a standard core, while also being thinner and less bulky
- Soft, cotton-like feel
- Dermatologically tested.
Directions for use: Step into pants and pull up. Pants should fit snugly against the body. To remove, pull down or tear away one side of the waistband. Use each pant only once. Do not flush.
LATERAL FLOW DEVICE DISTRIBUTION SERVICE
Lateral Flow Device Distribution Service (LFDDS) is an advanced service in England that aims to improve access to asymptomatic testing by making lateral flow tests readily available at community pharmacies.
As of 31 March 2021, LFDDS was added to the NHS Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework. The service is part of the Government's offer of lateral flow testing to all people in England. Customers may know the service as Pharmacy Collect.
Using LFDDS, customers without COVID-19 symptoms* can pick up lateral flow device test kits free of charge from community pharmacies. They then take the tests themselves at home. All people in England can request test kits, but some people may be more likely to undertake regular testing if they:
- Are a child at school or in a bubble with school children
- Work at a school or are in a bubble with school staff
- Have to leave the house for work
- Have been advised to test by their local council, GP or health provider.
We've had a substantial uptake in customers making use of this service and it's important to continue to increase awareness in stores by displaying the PHE posters on windows and counters.
The service is due to be reviewed at the end of this month, so keep an eye out for updates.
LFDDS key actions
- Continue to drive awareness of the service in stores by displaying the PHE posters on windows and counters
- Remember to report the number of transactions at the end of each day on the Pharmacy Accounting Tool
- Log the following on the MYS portal weekly:
- The lot numbers of test kits received
- Customer details from questions two and three.
* Lateral flow tests are not suitable for people with actual or suspected symptoms of COVID-19. Customers should follow the latest government guidance.
PHARMACY MARKETING
Since April, we have been running a marketing campaign to raise awareness of the Boots brand, specifically focusing on pharmacy and how we can support customers.
The campaign is running across social media, radio, digital music services and many more online platforms, as well as in stores. Some of the marketing includes a video series featuring our very own Boots pharmacists, talking about how we can support with prescription and healthcare needs.
The main topics in the marketing include:
- Supporting customers with their prescriptions through the Electronic Prescription Service, Text Message Service and Prescription Delivery Service
- Pharmacist support - our pharmacists are the first port of call and can support customers with minor ailments
- Opening hours - many Boots pharmacies are open extended hours, or even until midnight. Plus, over 1,200 stores open on a Sunday, so we can support customers whenever they need us.
Your existing and potential new customers will be seeing lots of this messaging, so you may find more customers are coming in with queries around services and asking pharmacists for advice. Be sure to have conversations with customers about what their needs are and find out how we can support them at Boots.
MANAGING DIABETES
With Diabetes Week 2021 coming up this month, this is the perfect time to get up to speed on what you can do to support your customers with diabetes.
Being diagnosed with diabetes can be overwhelming, and even customers who have been living with diabetes for some time may struggle to keep on top of their care. You have the opportunity to support customers to live well with diabetes by providing advice, information and tools to help them manage their condition.
As a pharmacy team, there are some simple steps that you can take to support customers with diabetes:
- If a customer has recently been diagnosed with diabetes or had a change in their medication, you could talk to them about a New Medicine Review - this is a great way to encourage customer loyalty while supporting patients who may need it the most
- If your store has Columbus, ensure Columbus compliance to make sure that medicines are in stock and prescriptions are ready on time
- Ask customers if they want to sign up to the Text Message Service so they know when their prescriptions are ready to collect. This helps to ensure they do not run out of their medicines and prevents unnecessary trips to the pharmacy
- Make sure the team is familiar with the range of products in store to support customers with diabetes, from monitors and testing to footcare, diet and weight management.
Signpost customers to Boots.com/diabetes-hub for more information and advice on topics including healthy eating for type 2 diabetes, managing diabetes and footcare.
INTERVIEW - SCOTT JAMIESON
Pharmacy first
Scott Jamieson, Scottish Pharmacy Partnership Manager, fills us in on pharmacy life in Scotland, from the NHS Pharmacy First service to independent prescribing.
How does Scottish pharmacy differ from the rest of the UK?
One of the main big differences is we have a service called NHS Pharmacy First - a free minor ailments service available to all Scottish residents. The service really helps to establish pharmacy as the first route of access into the NHS. So if you're not feeling well, go to your pharmacy first or call NHS 24 (the equivalent of 111 in England). The pharmacist will assess the patient's symptoms and will either be able to treat them or refer them on to an appropriate healthcare provider.
Independent prescribing is layered on top of that through NHS Pharmacy First Plus, the extended service. So pharmacists who are independent prescribers (IPs) can then prescribe on top of that service without referring to a GP.
How is Boots doing Pharmacy First?
We're really behind the service, because we understand the benefits that it brings to patients and the NHS as a whole; if people come to pharmacy for advice on minor conditions, that way it saves on GP appointments and A&E admissions.
The service launched in July last year, during the COVID-19 pandemic. We've been working with other partners and healthcare providers, like GPs, care homes and out of hours services, to raise awareness of the service and promote it within local communities.
What are the opportunities for independent prescribing?
For those pharmacists who want to go on and do an IP qualification, we have National Education for Scotland (NES) funded courses. Also, pre-registration pharmacists that qualify this summer have the option of going onto a NES-funded foundation programme. The ambition is that within two years, those students will come out with an IP qualification.
There are lots of routes to becoming an IP in Scotland and the vision would be that, within the next five to 10 years, everybody will transition over to becoming an IP. With the national service there, you can make the most of your skills.
Everybody has the opportunity to step up and take on more responsibility
How do you see the future of pharmacy in Scotland?
It's hugely optimistic. We've got a government that's really bought into community pharmacy, it's well funded in terms of the services - which are free and available to all Scottish residents - and there's fantastic, funded support to help our pharmacists upskill and become IPs.
As our pharmacists are delivering services and stepping more into the IP role, there are more services and leadership opportunities for our technicians, so there's a knock on effect to the rest of the team. Everybody has the opportunity to step up and take on more responsibility within the pharmacy.