Lincolnshire Co-op partner with Centred Solutions to Introduce FLOWRx Repeat Dispensing Hub Technology
Centred Solutions, the leading provider of repeat prescription technology and automation, has partnered with Lincolnshire Co-op to provide them with the latest pharmacy hub and spoke solution. The partnership will transform the way the group dispenses repeat prescriptions - enabling pharmacy staff to spend more time delivering services and improving patient care.
Previously, repeat prescriptions were picked, labelled and sorted for dispensing manually by staff across all the branches. This can lead to the pharmacies purchasing and holding surplus stock as well as significantly impacting the time skilled staff have available for face to face patient care. With the new hub technology now installed at the group’s headquarters, staff in the branches will no longer have to spend hours administering and dispensing repeat prescriptions. Pharmacies instead receive labelled, sorted and bagged patient prescriptions straight from the hub ready to be collected by the patient in the spoke pharmacy.
Lincolnshire Co-op is one of the most successful independent consumer co-operatives in the UK which offer a wide range of services including pharmacy. They are owned by 295,000 members, the people of Lincolnshire and the surrounding counties, and have been for more than 160 years. The co-operative has 44 pharmacy branches.
The centralised hub project was installed last year and a small number of branches have been piloting the new way of working. The group is now in the process of rolling out the centralised dispensing approach to all of its branches.
Project Lead and Pharmacy Area Manager Rob Vaughan from Lincolnshire Co-op said:
“Lincolnshire Co-op is continuing to invest in our pharmacy business so we can provide more valued services to benefit the health and wellbeing of our communities. We have invested in FLOWRx dispensing automation to enable the delivery of more services to our patients, which helps us towards our purpose of making life better for our communities. The capacity we create by centralising the majority of our dispensing process will mean our pharmacies are well placed to offer patients new initiatives like the Pharmacy First scheme and other health services, such as healthy heart checks and travel vaccines.”
Paul O’Hanlon, Managing Director of Centred Solutions commented: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Lincolnshire Co-op. Our innovative technology will allow the co-operative to streamline their dispensing process to spend more time on what matters most – face to face patient care. Pharmacists are navigating a new and more demanding healthcare landscape, it’s increasingly more important for them to understand and embrace the technology they need to help them succeed and thrive. Lincolnshire Co-op are among the early adopters of our hub technology and they should be commended for their forward thinking and innovation.”
The partnership also marks the first time Centred Solution’s FLOWRx technology has been integrated with Cegedim’s PMR solution. Both businesses are determined to drive efficiencies in community pharmacy and together they offer Cegedim customers the opportunity to streamline their workflow. FLOWRx technology is PMR agnostic and already has successful interfaces with both Positive Solutions and EMIS. It also interfaces with warehouse management systems, robotic storage and dispensing systems, wholesalers or a combination of supply sources.
