Mark Butcher, Director Marketing, Communication & PR, Accord UK talks about how the pandemic has changed the way that the pharma industry is communicating with pharmacists in our 2nd series of Thinking Differently vlogs reflecting on the trends of 2021 and their impact on UK pharmacy.
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Whilst the vaccine provides us all with hope, there is still a need for remote solutions for the foreseeable future.
During the recent lockdowns, there were several essential industries that had to keep going with supermarkets and pharmacies being two areas of greatest need. Pharmacists who were already under resourced and overstretched were even more in demand as healthcare needs soared.
For the safety of our wholesale and pharmacy partners as well as our own employees – we, like the rest of industry, put face-to-face engagement on hiatus. However, it was critical that we maintained communications to provide support and much needed medicines.
Uptake of digital technology quickly became the norm and whilst it was vital during lockdown, it is one of many learnings from the pandemic that we are likely to build into our business practice.
For example, it was one of the factors for us increasing the tools available to pharmacists on the Accord Partner Platform such as online order requests. Whilst we are planning to start visiting pharmacies and wholesalers in the near future, digital solutions are definitely here to stay. Reducing the need for sales teams to be onsite is more time effective for pharmacists, giving them back more time with patients.
One of the things we have recognised from our heritage in oncology is that there is more support needed for cancer patients who can feel overwhelmed by the amount of advice and information they receive after diagnosis. This has been exacerbated during the pandemic as either consultations are postponed, or patients feel reluctant to visit hospitals. Working with Macmillan Cancer Support we have launched a new app. This resource has been devised by experts from across the cancer community to support and advise people on their physical and mental wellbeing whilst undergoing cancer treatment.
It wasn’t just the pharmaceutical industry that realised the value of digital technology to access healthcare services. During the pandemic there was a surge in the use of digital apps and services by patients. The NHS app, which allows users to access a range of NHS services, such as ordering repeat prescriptions or making GP appointments, from a smartphone or tablet, saw a 912% increase in users in December 2020 from the previous year. Patients were using the app not only to access NHS services but also to order repeat prescriptions, which increased by 495%, from January 2020 to November 2020.1
Whilst these technologies are not new, the pandemic created a catalyst that is likely to change the way that the industry and patients continue to engage with pharmacies.
Watch Mark Butcher, Director Marketing, Communication & PR, Accord UK share his thoughts in Episode 5: Changing rules of engagement in our second Thinking Differently vlog series ‘Future trends affecting pharmacy’.
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