       First Hand Account of 'Revolutionary' Pharmacy Service - April 08 Designed to help pharmacies promote healthcare issues to customers, the innovative service follows on the success of a scheme pioneered by IDS UK’s Waiting Room Information Services in 6,000 GP surgeries. The following is one pharmacist's account of what he thinks of Help2Health: WATCHING a relative die from ovarian cancer underlined for pharmacist Robert Davies how important it is to have the right information available. He strongly believes her cancer could have been caught in the early stages giving her longer to live, if she had known more about the disease. “She had the classic symptoms but went to her doctor too late. And now she has gone leaving children and it is so tragic. That's why I'm such a believer in the Help2Health leaflet displays in pharmacies. They allow people to pick up a leaflet discreetly and read it in their own time. I'm certain if my relative had the chance to read a leaflet about ovarian cancer she would have gone to her doctor sooner,” he said. Robert is among the first 500 pharmacists to receive the new service from IDS UK and he has been delighted with the results so far. "Health care marketing is important to pharmacies because information is knowledge and knowledge empowers people to take control of their own health issues.IDS have merchandised signposting and lifestyle information and brought it directly to pharmacies with revolving display units that give customers privacy to select the leaflet that interests them without everybody knowing about it." Since Help2Health launched the leaflet displays in pharmacies more than 700 businesses have signed up. “I actually contacted IDS UK asking them to provide me with a leaflet stand for my shop long before I knew they were planning Help2Health. I had seen their leaflet displays in surgeries and thought it was a great idea – and one that we could use too,” said Mr Davies, who runs a pharmacy in Caerau, Wales. Help2Health manager Sarah O'Reilly said she was delighted by the response so far. “We have been a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of pharmacies signing up. To ensure the product would work we ran a pilot scheme involving 50 pharmacies and that proved such a success that others have been queuing up to have a leaflet stand too,” she said. The Help2Health service is also available for charities to put their information in. Please contact IDS UK’s Charity Consultant, Linda Hams on 07724052679 to discuss the most appropriate medium from our range of services for your charity leaflet. |
