Blenheim Pharmacy, situated in Luton, has been offering its customers daily late-night pharmacy services since 2014. Its owner, Prab Chana, qualified in 2012 after completing his pre-registration with Boots. Prab partnered with Invatech to help him grow his care home business, so we followed up with him to ask him about his experience so far.

What’s your goal for pharmacy?
Healthcare has always been important to my business. After I qualified, I wanted to try something new. I wanted to have my own pharmacy business and liked the idea of implementing better medicines management, not just to the community, but also to care home residents.

What challenges have you faced in business?
Since 2016, there have been significant cuts in pharmacy funding and we were affected by 7.5% on our revenues. Clearly, this has been challenging. When I started out, I tried growing my business through care homes, but this proved to be a real challenge, not least because of the time involved in preparing blister packs and racks. It was also hard managing this service, and mistakes were made:

• communication with care homes was difficult;
• our records were often out-of-date compared to those held by the care homes;
• a lack of integration meant that pharmacy and care home staff didn't always know which patients required medicines updates;
• the medicines management process was cumbersome and paper-based, which caused problems for both sides. 

How did you come across Invatech’s ATLAS eMAR products?
I came across Invatech’s solution for care home services through a care home manager who had used the ATLAS products before. I looked at Invatech’s website and then contacted their Head of Sales, Sajid Ramzan. He gave me more insight into the technology and told me that I could dispense medicines in original packs. So, I decided to partner with Invatech - it's been a blessing and I haven’t looked back since.

What’s been the outcome?
I have grown my business to 14 care homes around my area since 2014 - a 60% increase. I can monitor care homes on their use of the ATLAS eMAR and proactively manage medicines via CAPA (the technology required on the pharmacy side to service care homes). Invatech's technology has helped me provide more efficient, effective and safe care. Accuracy checking has been effective and a real game-changer, especially for my staff. It's always been possible to communicate directly with Invatech, so it feels more like a partnership than a supplier-client relationship. Invatech is really professional and their helpdesk is excellent and offers support, when needed. 

Where do you see yourself going from here?
I see myself continuing to grow my business by servicing more care homes. This is something I was struggling to do before taking on CAPA and ATLAS eMAR. Having been introduced to Invatech’s new PMR system, Titan, at the Pharmacy Show this year, I'm looking forward to upgrading to this new PMR system. It offers a whole raft of benefits for my pharmacy, not least the end to double-entry from my PMR to the other apps (e.g. my delivery app) and error-free dispensing. I can’t wait to have it!

Find out more about ATLAS eMAR Technology can support your medicines management needs in your care home