Retail pharmacy dispensaries often have cramped work areas with little space for buffer stocks. Poor work station layouts have also affected efficiency and work flow.

The objective of this project was to investigate ways to improve the work process of a retail pharmacy. Considerations included implementing an automated system, which was currently employed in the outpatient pharmacy and redesigning the layout.  A feasibility study to investigate the use of an automated system in a retail pharmacy was conducted. The time needed for prescription filling processes in both the retail and outpatient pharmacies were noted. The average speed was then calculated to estimate whether the automated system could improve efficiency in a retail pharmacy.   Incidences of near misses were also monitored randomly for 20 prescriptions during peak hours from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  

The results from the study show that the automated system may not be suitable for implementation in a retail pharmacy setting. However, the technique of identifying shelf locations where the medications are stored can be adapted from the automated system to help pickers locate the drugs fast.  A new layout for the retail pharmacy dispensary was designed and a survey was conducted amongst all the retail pharmacy dispensary staff to gather feedback on the effectiveness of the new layout which situated workstations in strategic locations to ensure smooth work flow to increase work efficiency of the retail pharmacy.  

The results of the survey show that staff are positive that the new layout design will improve the work process of the retail pharmacy.  The opinion of the public and the pharmacy staff were also sought through a survey via the introduction of a SMS prompting service.  The findings show that the public favoured the use of the SMS prompting service. However, only 50% of the pharmacy staff were receptive to the idea.  

Name of student: Wang Xianqi

Supervisors: Ms May Cheah and Ms Ms Yee Meiling, Singapore General Hospital