Being Safe & Friendly for the Little Ones

Most visitors to a pharmacy have a good idea of what they want. Customers from one large group, however, don’t want to discuss their illness with you. They’re not interested in product unless it’s bright and eye-catching. And some can’t even speak to you at all.

Treating children poses its own difficulties, not the least of which is the problem that to effectively deal with their health needs, one must go through an intermediary – usually mum or dad.

“If a parent is comfortable in the environment, it encourages them to continue using the same pharmacy,” said Sandra Huggins, retail manager at Victoria’s Morgan and Rule Pharmacy, which won the 2005 Pharmacy of the Year Award.

“Our pharmacy is child-friendly, and allows parents to sit and have a coffee while they wait for a script to be filled, or to visit our full-time Mothercare nurse, who’s available all he time.”

Part of the problem is that parents can be embarrassed or impatient with inquisitive toddlers, and want to remove them from an environment they perceive as not suitable for children.

“Mums or dads who go into a pharmacy with a toddler will often put in a prescription then, rather than waiting to have it filled, they leave the pharmacy because the toddler is likely to run around creating dramas, pulling things off shelves and so on,” said Michelle Barraclough, director of Child Friendly Solutions, which supplies wall-mounted play panels to retailers. “They’ll return in 10 or 15 minutes to pick up the medicine, then go.

“However, if the toddler is occupied with a safe, hygienic place to play, they’re not going to be causing problems. So it’s much more likely that mum or dad will stay to browse the pharmacy shelves while they wait, and will perhaps buy more products.”

She said that keeping youngsters occupied could also have professional benefits. Centrelink offices in Victoria had found the company’s panels useful, she said. “They’re installed in some of the more private rooms where people using the social security system can have a more in-depth conversation with a consultant. Single mothers who are trying to control one or more active toddlers find it harder to converse about what are really some quite serious matters. Keeping the child busy helps mum focus,” Ms Barraclough said.

“And pharmacy is quite a similar environment, in many ways. An effective play area lets parents talk with the pharmacist about health issues, which is hard to do with little ones running around.”