Helping you deliver patient-centred care with the latest news and essential information about key products and developments in store.
Holiday period preparation
The holiday period is getting close, so it's time to think about what your pharmacy team can do to prepare. Planned closures and shorter opening times mean it's important to get ahead on prescriptions. To ensure your store is ready, click on the article Preparing for the holiday period. In addition, click below to read the interview, Preparing your pharmacy team, to hear from an assistant manager on how she ensures her team are prepared.
Festive gift giving
As we approach the festive period, many customers will be visiting stores to look for gifts for their loved ones. Take a look at Boots.com to make sure you are up to date with gift products we stock and any in-store promotions. Don’t forget, we offer Click & Collect and next day delivery for all online orders. This may be subject to change, so keep an eye on the guidance.
Click the boxes below for product updates and news.
Boots Staydry Pants & Boots Staydry Men's Pants
Item codes: L: 41-27-064; Men's L: 60-90-060
Comfortable and discreet pants for those with moderate to heavy bladder weakness.
- Advanced ultrasonic bonding technology offers consumers a closer, more comfortable and secure fit for better protection against leaks and enhanced discretion
- The pad within the pants isn't changing, ensuring customers still receive the same great absorption they rely on
- The absorbent core and soft topsheet keep moisture away from the skin
- Natural odour control
- Brand new packaging design, including an updated logo, and product upgrades applied across the whole Staydry Pants range.
Boots Anaesthetic Sore Throat Relief 2% w/v Spray (P)
Lidocaine hydochloride
Item code: 23-20-096
A local anaesthetic spray to provide direct and soothing relief from the pain of severe sore throats.
- Anaesthetic spray directly numbs the pain
- Relieves the pain of severe sore throats.
Directions for use: For adults and children aged 12 years and over, spray three pumps at the back of the throat every three hours as needed. Can be used up to a maximum of six times in 24 hours. Advise customers not to use more than the recommended amount. It should not be used by children under 12 years.
See below for product information.
Boots Anaesthetic Sore Throat Relief 2% w/v Spray contains Lidocaine hydrochloride. Indications: For the symptomatic relief of severe sore throats. Legal category: P. Information about this product, including adverse reactions, precautions, contraindications and method of use can be found at https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/5538. Marketing authorisation number: PL 00014/0430. Further information is available from Licence Holder: The Boots Company PLC, 1 Thane Road West, Nottingham NG2 3AA. Date of preparation: November 2021.
PREPARING FOR THE HOLIDAY PERIOD
This year, the holiday period will be longer than usual due to the four-day bank holiday weekend. This will impact GP opening times and stock deliveries, and may mean your store is closed for an extended period of time. Effective and timely preparations will ensure that patients continue to receive their prescriptions, as well as ongoing support, throughout the festive season.
Every pharmacy is different, so have a think about your pharmacy's specific requirements. This is key to ensuring the operations of the store run smoothly during this time and that you continue to meet the My Perfect Pharmacy standards, enabling you to deliver the best possible service to your patients.
Look at your store's opening times over the festive period and the people you have available. Review your resource levels for the increased workload during and leading up to the bank holidays to create a People Plan.
Communicating with your local GP surgeries will also be important as you prepare. This will ensure that you are aware of their opening hours and that they know when you're open during this period.
The bank holiday period may mean that you are going without a delivery for up to four days. In preparation for this, try and get ahead on due date dispensing wherever possible. This may require sending repeat requests to GPs earlier to ensure scripts are back in a timely manner before the Christmas closures. To support dispensing demand, there will be an increase in supply of the top lines in stores including antibiotics.
Once you've identified your store's specific needs for the festive period, you can find further guidance and support on the BootsLive Christmas hub.
To think about:
- Ensure you have a robust People Plan leading up to and during the festive period, and prepare for colleague absence due to sickness or unforeseen circumstances
- Get ahead on due date dispensing, including Domicillary Dispensing Service (DDS) dispensing
- Review PDC operating hours and rearrange deliveries where necessary
- Check pharmacy consumables supply and place orders in plenty of time to ensure delivery before Christmas
- Make sure the Appointment Diary reflects the store's Christmas opening hours
- Liaise with your Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) to make sure scripts are covered for the planned closures and are sent in a timely manner
- Find out the opening hours of local healthcare providers over the bank holiday period
- Put notices up signposting patients to the local pharmacies' opening and closing times.
INTERVIEW - EMMA GREEN
Preparing your pharmacy team
We speak to Emma Green, Assistant Manager at store 0254 in Gloucester, about how her store prepares for the holiday period.
What should pharmacy teams be doing to prepare for the four-day bank holiday?
I believe the most important preparation is communicating with local surgeries. Once your pharmacy team have initiated these conversations, you can begin to organise your prescriptions and ensure you have planned your team around the additional workload. You should also find out when your local surgeries will be open during the bank holidays. Make sure to check their opening hours, dates of closure and their requirements around receiving prescription requests.
Additionally, one of the most important things to do is to ensure your pharmacy team has been properly allocated working hours. Leading up to the holiday period, my store team also tend to do evening shifts to ensure we have pulled forward the workload.
How do you ensure your pharmacy team are aware of preparations that are in place?
My pharmacy team have daily huddles in the morning where we can talk through specific tasks that need to be done that day, such as surgery requests. This is also a way to find out who has been in contact with patients and whether follow up conversations are required.
During the holiday period, my team like to display the details of all the local surgeries on our wall, with their opening times, planned closures and any other necessary requirements. This is a great way to ensure your team are aware of local surgeries and can signpost patients when further support is required.
How can your team support those who are most vulnerable during the holiday period?
Where we can, we work very closely with patients that are vulnerable. During the festive period, where possible, we communicate with carers to ensure that they are aware of prescription collection times and know when to deliver medication to patients. Alternatively, if the patient is unable to collect their prescription, we arrange for PDC to deliver where appropriate.
Do you have any further tips for stores preparing for the festive season?
Working alongside your local surgeries is the most important thing that stores should be doing during this time. If the surgeries are aware of your team's support, it can mean the holiday period is more manageable.
In addition, if you can be a few days ahead of your pharmacy workload, your team will be able to ensure all prescriptions are prepared on time. Make sure you have completed your data entry and have ordered the prescriptions, as this will ensure you have enough stock to last the bank holiday closures.