At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were shortages of several common OTC medicines such as paracetamol. A need was identified to find out about these shortages, as well as create a solution that would enable the quick communication of community pharmacy issues, and potentially minimize the number of pharmacies a patient would visit to obtain medication and thus reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
As a result, a community pharmacy WhatsApp group was created, containing Luton CCG Medicines Optimisation staff and a representative from each community pharmacy in the town. This later included pharmacists from the local GP practices, and a second group was created for the wider Bedfordshire area.
As time has passed, the group has evolved beyond being simply a method of knowing about a given pharmacy's stock levels. Practice pharmacists now regularly check where medicine can be obtained before sending their patients over, wider safety issues have been disseminated through the group, and it has been received positively as a time-saving tool that allows a greater focus on patient care.
