Hono Massawe

Hono Massawe 
Boots UK, South Groathill Avenue
Sustainability Champion Award
Highly Commended

When it comes to sustainability, Hono Massawe’s focus is firmly on stock management. “When I joined, my store was one of the worst for excessive stock,” she explains. “I’m working on minimising this. I speak with our dispensers and if they make an owing, I ask why and then I check our stock figures. Often, they’ll say we don’t have stock, but we do, so I endeavour to check the system before ordering so we can try and use up what we have.” 

This method is not only good for business, but also benefits the patients who may not be getting their medication on time due to lack of stock claims. “I keep an eye on this, and I also look at dates on medication and make sure that we have a system where we give out the ones that will expire quickly first, so we don’t end up with lots of expired medication,” adds Hono. 

Recycling stock is also a key NHS priority, something Hono has taken advantage of in recent months. “As a company we’ve joined forces with the NHS, where they’ve introduced different bins to recycle different medicines. There are some bins that you can only put inhalers in, or needles, or toxic medications. These are then separated from the out-of-date medication that we ask patients to bring in so we can still monitor how much stock we’re wasting.”

It is this diverse way of making sure the store is not producing more waste than necessary which really wowed our judges. “[There are] two good examples given here,” says Mimi Lau, managing director of Pickfords Pharmacy. “Better stock management processes as well as working with the NHS to introduce a recycling scheme to maximise sustainability in store. The benefits are clear and the impact big.”