Mobile MUR service a Supreme Award winner (Pharmacy Awards)

Location

Waikato

Health minister Tony Ryall was impressed by the standard of entries at this year's Pharmacy Today/ProPharma Pharmacy Awards. 

"The Awards highlight the great work pharmacists do everyday in primary health," Mr Ryall says.

He attended the Pharmacy Awards last night (9 June) and took the time to talk to industry members during the evening. Mr Ryall was especially impressed by the Supreme Award-winning entry by the Midland Community Pharmacy Group's Angela Harwood and Carla Corbet.

Their entry highlighted the role of a mobile MUR pharmacist who visited patients throughout the region and saved the DHB hundreds of thousands of dollars (Pharmacy Today, September 2011). 

Their initial entry says the service has saved the DHB in excess of $200,000, through patients no longer requiring a nurse to oversee their taking their medicines. However, Ms Corbet says latest figures actually show a saving in excess of $700,000.

Mr Ryall showed genuine interest in this service and expressed his plan to learn more about the work done by the group.

This is not the first time Ms Harwood and Ms Corbet have entered the Awards, so the win came as a shock to the pair.

"I'm unprepared and don't have a speech as I didn't really think we would win," Ms Harwood said while accepting the award. She acknowledged MidCPG leaders Cath Knapton and Jane Abel for their innovation and ability to develop services that continue to be taken up by pharmacies in the Waikato region. 

Ms Harwood says she is honoured to have been recognised, and says the sector should "watch this space" as the MidCPG continue to develop new services and evolve existing services.

The Pharmacy Awards ceremony was held at Auckland's Langham Hotel and was attended by more than 400 industry members. 

The number of entries was higher than previous years and the calibre of entries made judging difficult in some categories, Pharmacy Today editor Jodi Yeats says.

During his address Mr Ryall acknowledged it was an uncertain time for pharmacists with the new Pharmacy Services Agreement, but says the agreement is a move away from focussing on medicines and, instead, placing an emphasis on patients.

"I am aware there are gaps in the detail of the Pharmacy Services Agreement. As an accountant, and from being in cabinet, I know the importance of detail," Mr Ryall says.

He believes with goodwill and through a strong working group pharmacy will achieve the goal of becoming a patient-focussed profession.

Waikato DHB media release, 18 June 2012