Nominations open today for the prestigious Pharmacy Guild of Australia's 2023 Pharmacy of the Year awards.
The 2023 awards will continue the format from last year where members of the public, as well as those in the profession, are invited to nominate their favourite pharmacy. Last year this resulted in a record number of nominations.
The awards are recognised as the benchmark for excellence in the community pharmacy sector. They seek to identify highly motivated and adaptable pharmacy practices which stand out for their delivery of innovative and effective healthcare to support their community.
National President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Trent Twomey, said pharmacies continued to excel in innovative practices, despite the challenges they have faced over the past few years.
"These awards recognise the very best in the community pharmacy profession as it continues to innovate and develop new ways of helping to improve the health outcomes of the patients community pharmacies serve," he said.
"Everyone should nominate their favourite community pharmacy so they are in the running for this coveted award."
Nominations can be made in three categories: Excellence in Business Management, Excellence in Community Engagement, and Excellence in Professional Innovation.
The awards are sponsored by Care Pharmaceuticals whose General Manager, Jonathan Biddle. said his company continued to be proud of its involvement in an event which celebrated excellence in the profession.
"The opening up of public nominations has been a great initiative and means we are hearing about more and more brilliant pharmacies," he said.
"Through this very worthwhile event we at Care Pharmaceuticals are proud to be able to give back to that sector which is so much a part of our everyday business.
"It highlights some of the amazing things community pharmacies are doing every day and enables them to be celebrated nationally."
Brad Butt, co-proprietor of 2022 Pharmacy of the Year, Cooleman Court Pharmacy in the ACT., encouraged participation in the award.
"I would encourage you to get the word out to all of your patients to nominate you because it's not about the $5,000 prize, it's not about the trophies, it's not about the flights and accommodation – let me tell you, it's about your community and the sense of ownership they get when you are nominated for an award like this is remarkable," he said.
"And it's nice to have the recognition for the wonderful work that we, community pharmacies, are doing in our local communities."
Characteristics that can lead to being recognised as the Guild Pharmacy of the Year include:
- Having set and achieved business goals
- Demonstrating commitment to customers' needs
- Identifying and meeting gaps in addressing local health needs in their area
- Implementing innovative ideas, and evaluating success
- Having successfully collaborated and partnered to strengthen their health professional network
- Demonstrating strong leadership that unifies the pharmacy team
- Continually improving and growing their business
The category winners and overall winner of the Guild Pharmacy of the Year awards will be announced at the 2023 APP Conference, held on 23-26 March 2023 at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. The Guild Pharmacy of the Year awards are an initiative of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, sponsored by Care Pharmaceuticals.
