Avicenna pharmacies have increased their number of prescription items by two per cent across the company against a national reduction of one per cent, said the organisation at its annual overseas conference, held in Vietnam.

Avicenna is marking its 25th year in business this year. 

Pharmacy teams have set up a WhatsApp group to help share best practice, said Naz Meghji, head of retail at Avicenna, to focus on solutions for the issues they face every day. Staff are key stakeholders in improving performance, she said. Weekly team meetings examine how pharmacies are performing against their KPIs, such as MURs and NMS. Avicenna pharmacies are on track to deliver 400 flu jabs each this year, she said, and some will achieve double that.

Healthy Living Pharmacy has been a key contributor to achieving success, said Ms Meghji. “We believe that Healthy Living Pharmacy programmes have increased our footfall in our pharmacies.” 

One Avicenna pharmacist in Bournemouth has been nominated by local GPs for a national award, she shared, demonstrating the close working relationships that are being developed with GPs and other healthcare professionals by pharmacy teams.

Avicenna pharmacists are encouraged to do outreach work in the community, get involved in charity fundraising, and attend local LPC meetings.

Outcomes of initiatives that have been introduced include high staff retention, staff satisfaction surveys of 100 per cent and mystery shopper survey scores of over 90 per cent, said Avicenna, suggesting ideas that other independent pharmacies could adopt.