Paydens Hub and Spoke Frees Capacity to Deliver Clinical Services

Early adopters of a hub and spoke model, Paydens Pharmacy Group are demonstrating that centralising dispensing of repeat prescriptions relieves pressure in pharmacy branches and releases time to deliver revenue generating services.

The group, which operates more than 100 pharmacies across the South East of England, were one of the first multiple pharmacies to put in place a hub and spoke model last year. Now a new case study has revealed that the move has resulted in significant time savings in store.

Paydens Pharmacy created a hub in Maidstone, Kent, to service its highest dispensing branches. The hub uses Centred Solution’s FLOWRx Hub Auto to dispense their original pack repeat prescriptions. The group put in the first FLOWRx Hub production line in spring 2022 and then added in a second line in the autumn as they increased production and moved more stores to the hub and spoke model. The innovative solution interfaces with EMIS PMR, Omnicell’s Robotic Dispensing System and Universal Logistics Management software as well as Victoria OS ordering software.

The hub operation runs during the day Monday to Friday and produces an average of 33,289 packs per week for just under 9,000 patients, leaving plenty of scope to ramp up. The hub is currently dispensing 79.7% of repeat prescription original packs requested by the group’s busiest stores.

But it is in the pharmacy branches that the model is really having an impact. A time and motion case study carried out by Centred Solutions and Paydens evaluated the dispensing process in one of the branches before and after the hub and spoke model was implemented. It revealed just how much time can be saved in branch by moving to hub and spoke.

Paydens’ Faversham branch is a busy store serving two local GP surgeries. The branch dispenses an average of 6,425 packs per week. On average, 87% of packs for original pack repeat prescriptions and 48% of all packs dispensed by the branch are now fulfilled by the hub.

The time and motion study found that pharmacists at the branch spend 73% less time on average carrying out clinical and accuracy checks in store. This is because the checking is now done by the pharmacist at the start of the process when the order is sent to the hub. Additional checks are done at the hub using innovative barcode and RFID technology.

It also found that for every prescription, dispensing staff save on average one minute ten seconds picking medication. That’s a time saving of 55 minutes for every 50 prescriptions. They also spend less time walking around the store picking medication, walking an average of one kilometre less for every 120 prescriptions picked.

 In addition, there have been time savings when it comes to putting away stock on the shelves. The average number of totes delivered to the store has reduced from an average of seven per day to three. As a result, staff are saving 44 minutes on average every day putting away deliveries, that’s the equivalent of 15 extra blood pressure checks per week.

“We have found that investing in new technology is key to improving healthcare and adapting for the future. By moving to a hub and spoke model we are now enabling our highly skilled, professional staff to provide an even better service to our communities,” comments Alexander Pay, Director at Paydens Pharmacy Group.

“Staff in our busiest branches are no longer wasting their valuable time putting away stock and then re-picking it for labelling and dispensing to patients. These staff are now free to deliver a range of patient facing services from the new medicines service to weight management and stop smoking clinics. We have been able to relieve the pressure in store by reducing the amount of time spent on administrative and logistical tasks. Staff are now spending more time working at the top of their clinical licence,” he adds.

Read the full case study.

 About Paydens Pharmacy Group: Paydens Pharmacy Group is an independent family-owned company established in 1969. The group operates more than 100 pharmacies across the South East of England with their head office and hub in Maidstone, Kent. Their pharmacies vary in size from small village pharmacy to large high street shops. They are members ofd AIMp.

 About Centred Solutions: Centred Solutions is transforming the future of pharmacy dispensing. Their innovative software and technology automates the original pack dispensing process - from picking to packing and labelling to checking. Designed for pharmacies of all sizes, their scalable hub and spoke and tote2spoke solutions save pharmacies time, money and reduces the risk of error. Their technology allows pharmacies to deliver more clinical services and grow their business so in the future they thrive rather than just survive.

 About the Case Study: Data around production levels at Paydens Pharmacy Hub is based on Payden’s Hub Dispensing Report for all its stores fulfilled by the hub between 7/11.22 and 30/1/23. Data specific to the Faversham branch is based on FLOWRx Hub Auto production data for that branch between 7/11/22 and 30/1/23 and a time and motion study carried out at that branch. Data gathering pre-hub and spoke was carried out on 5/7/22 and data gathering post-hub and spoke was carried out on 26/1/23. Data gathered at the store is based on average of 30 prescriptions.