Prioritising the wellbeing of their patients has led to Pharmacy 777 Shoalwater being named as the Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s national Pharmacy of the Year at the Australian Professional Pharmacy (APP) conference on the Gold Coast.

The prestigious award is open to all Pharmacy Guild members, and recognises excellence in business management, community engagement and professional innovation. 

Pharmacy 777 Shoalwater is committed to serving its community of predominantly elderly patients and maturing families and was awarded the Pharmacy of the Year for Excellence in Community Engagement before being announced national Pharmacy of the Year overall.

Co-proprietors Julie Ng and Sam Afsar said their staff’s specialised knowledge is what sets them apart.

“We offer a wide range of services including compliance support (Home Medicines Reviews and dose administration aids), diabetes services, vaccinations, and integrative health offerings,” Julie said.

“In addition, we offer sleep apnoea services, health checks, mental health service, mobility aids, wound care, compounding, hospital discharge support, transplant support, express deliveries, and a Call`&’Collect service.

“And while most of these services have been provided by pharmacies before, our innovation lies in their comprehensive and detailed implementation.”

Julie also said the Pharmacy’s Out of Hospital Support service helps the community feel safe and supported.

“We noticed a big barrier for our patients was the confusion around and the lack of follow up pre and post-hospital discharge. So we tailored a comprehensive support service to ease their transition into and out of hospital. Helping to reduce medication misadventure and readmission rates,” Julie added.

“We also offer specialised support for a large number of transplant patients, with a focus to help improve compliance and reduce complications in the short and long term. This was implemented in collaboration with leading transplant specialists in WA.

“We use a holistic patient-centric approach which focusses on the right service for the right patient, and provides adequate follow up.”

Pharmacy 777 Managing Director congratulates the team, "Pharmacy 777 Shoalwater is a great example of how an independent Community Pharmacy can meet the needs of patients in their local community through a truly dedicated team. We are honoured they have been recognised for their remarkable achievement."

Close cooperation and collaboration with other local health professionals is another key ingredient in the pharmacy’s success.

“We have an amazing referral network with our allied health network which in turn supports our professional services,” Julie said.

“Our approach is not only about tailoring our services to the community, but also to respect and treat each patient as an individual.

“This means they feel valued at Pharmacy 777 Shoalwater and we see them again and again.”

Congratulations to Pharmacy 777 Shoalwater on a well-deserved award.