We recently caught up with Yogesh from Vicary Pharmacy, one of our many valued community pharmacy customers who gives advice to other pharmacies who are considering adding ear and hearing healthcare services to their pharmacy.
What influenced your decision to offer ear and hearing healthcare in your pharmacy?
We have had a lot of enquiries about these services in the past and haven’t been able to offer them. The sheer demand for hearing checks and wax removals was a massive influence in our decision to start offering these services.
How have you found adding an additional service to your pharmacy?
The process has been very easy and Tympa has been extremely helpful. The training services have enabled us to feel confident in offering the services, and the marketing materials have given us one less thing to worry about when it comes to promoting our ear and hearing health check-ups.
How much demand has there been for the service?
Since we started offering the Tympa service in February, we’ve expanded to 3 branches and have seen over 200 patients. We have had a very positive response to the service so far. Most of our patients only want the wax removal, but we also offer the hearing check which allows us to help a wider range of people in our community.
What has been your favourite thing about using the Tympa device?
I think the training was excellent, our staff have been very encouraged with the support Tympa has provided, and the ongoing support for any issues has also been great. I also think the whole content of the course itself for the training is very professional and comprehensive.
What has been your experience with the training provided by Tympa?
The training was very comprehensive. Once you’ve completed both training days I felt very competent from to deliver ear and hearing health check-ups.
Do you have a standout patient story where you feel you really made a difference?
We’ve had multiple google reviews complimenting the service saying it’s been easy to access, very well managed, and thorough.
What methods have worked well when it comes to getting the word out about your new Tympa service?
We have used a few different methods of advertising but have found the one that’s worked the best and we have had the most response from was in-store advertising. We advertise the services on TV screens in the waiting room which starts the initial conversation with the customers. We also used social media to advertise and use the marketing materials provided by Tympa to put in our store windows which helps draw customers in.
Any advice for other pharmacies starting out on their Tympa journey?
I would say consider it! There’s a huge market for it, and it’s a very valuable additional service for a pharmacy to provide. The customers are very satisfied with the access to the ear and hearing services in the community because We’re able to offer appointments at short notice unlike GP’s, which gives us an advantage.
Find out how you can expand your pharmacy services with Tympa
