Clive Pharmacy

10/06/2026

What is the rationale behind dispensing certain medications in 1-month supplies versus 3-month supplies?

Some medications fall outside the standard quantities due to specific circumstances, including: those prescribed for short-term use, controlled medications like morphine (limited to a 10-day supply), oral contraceptives (which can be dispensed in 6-month supplies), and medications with doctor-specified limits or special packaging arrangements.

Certain medications and devices have funding limits that apply over a year or specific timeframes, rather than supply limits, such as Sebizole shampoo, which has a funding limit of one bottle per prescription.

While many medications can be dispensed in 3-month supplies, Pharmac imposes limitations on others due to safety concerns of large quantities eg amitriptyline, abuse potential eg quetiapine, high costs eg Ellipta inhalers, or shortage risks eg Estradot or Progesterone.

Medications not funded by the government are exempt from these restrictions, but laws still dictate that no more than a 3-month supply can be dispensed at one time, even with a longer prescription.

There is another sort of medication such a insulin that can be given in 3 month lots if the pharmacist thinks this is practical but often storage and having to come back to the pharmacy monthly for other items can make this not relevant- best to ask the pharmacist.

05/06/2026

Know YOUR pharmacy staff.

People in the pharmacy and what their roles are.

The first people you will encounter are pharmacy assistants. Pharmacy assistants take prescriptions to give to the dispensary, answer the phone when able, hand out prescriptions, give advice on products, and put products through the till. They also clean, do stock control, screen calls and queries for the pharmacist, and can also be qualified vaccinators, take blood pressures, and perform similar activities. At Clive Pharmacy, we have Anne, who is a retired pharmacist, and Dana, who has been working in pharmacy since leaving school. They have both worked with us at previous jobs and kindly stepped back into pharmacy when our lovely Debbie went off on sick leave. To become a pharmacy assistant, there is no required course; however, a level 3 Open Polytechnic paper is a great asset to have.

The next people you will encounter at Clive Pharmacy will work mainly in the dispensary - technicians wearing olive green tops and the pharmacist wearing a white top. Pharmacy technicians complete either a 1-year full-time course or do it part-time while working. They complete levels 3 and 4 to become a technician and level 5 to become a technician with extra legal abilities, such as measuring antibiotic water and compounding under supervision. Pharmacy technicians can run prescriptions, prepare prescriptions, do stock control, hand out prescriptions, give advice on shop products, do paperwork, and can also be qualified to vaccinate and take blood pressures. All of the technician's work is supervised by a pharmacist. At Clive Pharmacy, we have Bronwyn, who is near completing her level 4 certificate, and Claire, who has 28 years as a technician behind her and is a qualified PACT.

A PACT is a Pharmacy Accuracy Checking Technician. You have to be a qualified level 5 technician for over 5 years to become a PACT. PACTs can check the final prescription for accuracy of strength, instructions (dose, frequency, quantity). They do not do clinical checks, and each item they do the accuracy check on has to have been clinically checked by a pharmacist and prepared by another dispensary member. The training to become a PACT is an intense 1000 error-free log. You make a mistake, and you start again after a course with your supervising pharmacist. It also requires yearly updates to stay qualified. Technicians are not yet registered health professionals, but hopefully, in the future, they will be.

Natascha (me), who owns the pharmacy, is the sole pharmacist at Clive Pharmacy. To become a pharmacist, it is a 5-year training, which is a 4-year BPharm level 7 degree and an intern year with final exams (which I completed in hospital pharmacy in Dunedin),to become a registered pharmacist. Natascha puts through all prescriptions at Clive Pharmacy, checking the suitability of the prescribed items with the demographics of the person, the person's known conditions and allergies, and other medications. Also, costs and availability and legality of the prescription are accessed. Pharmacists can also approve pharmacist-only medications, supervise all staff working in the pharmacy, do minor ailments and emergency contraception, erectile dysfunction, uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women, etc., as well as vaccinate, inject B12 injections, do finger-prick uric acid tests, etc. (an ever-changing job with law changes).

One important thing pharmacists are trained to do is know when a medical doctor's opinion is required, so as frustrating as it is sometimes you will be referred to the doctor.

Natascha qualified as a dental assistant out of school in the 1990s, then completed a BSc majoring in physiology before shifting to pharmacy. After having 2 children, Natascha completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Primary Health Care endorsed in long-term conditions and then a Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy. Natascha has also done education in motivational interviewing, ACNEM (functional medicine), and Anthropological medicine.

Once everything is complete at Clive Pharmacy, you may encounter Penny (in our orange car), our wonderful delivery driver, who does our free deliveries to Napier, Hastings, Clive, Te Awanga, Haumoana, Whakatu, Havelock North, and Flaxmere.

I hope this helps you know who you are entrusting your pharmacy experience to at Clive Pharmacy.

02/06/2026

If you are able to donate new pyjamas for Jammies for June, You can drop them off at Clive Pharmacy. This supports a great cause.❤️

31/05/2026

On Tuesday, 2nd June, participating pharmacies, including Clive Pharmacy, will offer consultations for the following services: children under 14 years old for head lice, scabies, pain relief, and oral hydration, as well as conjunctivitis for children between 2 and 14 years old. The consultation fees are $5 for holders of a Community Services card and $20 for non-holders. Additionally, women aged 16 to 65 years may receive trimethoprim or nitrofurantoin for urinary tract infections (if suitable) at a cost of $5 with a Community Services card and $20 without. Women under 25 years old will receive free emergency contraceptive pill consultations and supplies (if appropriate), regardless of Community Services card status.

Note that women are eligible for urinary tract infection treatment due to the higher incidence of uncomplicated infections in this demographic, resulting from their shorter urethra. Men requiring treatment will need to schedule an appointment with a qualified healthcare professional, such as a medical doctor, nurse practitioner, or pharmacist prescriber.

30/05/2026

We have also volunteered to be a collection site. Join us in haloing Jammies for June 2026.

Dear Jammies supporters.

20,000 warm items for children and 1,000’s of newborn baby items 💥💥
That’s what this beautiful Hawke’s Bay community helped me distribute last year through Jammies4June — all organised from my garage thanks to all of you 💥

So it’s that time of year again, and I’ve launched Jammies4June a little earlier than usual because the need across Hawke’s Bay is already very high.

This drive takes many months to run, and I simply couldn’t do it without the kindness of people like you.

If you are able to help again this year, I would be incredibly grateful.
If you’re not in a position to donate, please don’t worry at all — sharing this post helps more than you know.

Around $10 can purchase a pair of pyjamas, and together with the beautiful knitting from our wonderful volunteers — blankets, slippers, beanies and more — it helps keep children warm and reminds families that their community cares.

Teachers and social workers often tell me that when children are warm they sleep better, stay healthier, and are able to learn and play with confidence.

This message is also simply to say thank you for the support you have given in the past. None of this happens alone, but together many small acts of kindness create something incredibly powerful.

If donating it not possible this year I understand... if it is or you can share thank you. Most of all I thank you for being part of my core team over so many years. You have helped immensely.

If you would like to donate directly:

Account Name: Out and About with Kids in Hawke’s Bay
Account Number: 03-0698-0143424-000
Reference: Jammies4June

With heartfelt thanks,
Gabby Allen

💙 Please feel free to share 🙏🏽

26/05/2026

Reminder; We are shut Monday 1st of June. Monday deliveries will be done Friday.

23/05/2026

Become a valued member of our loyalty club today and start earning rewards. Receive 150 points and redeem a $10 voucher. You earn 1 point for every $1 spent over the counter and 1 point for each prescription item.

Email [email protected] with your email address to receive our quarterly specials.

20/05/2026

Explanation Why does it take so long for my prescription to arrive from next door?

Both doctors surgeries and pharmacies are required to have special security in their servers which prevent data being accessed by hackers.

The prescription has to leave the doctors ( after they press send) and go into the central provider ( not the pharmacy).

The pharmacy then has to receive the prescription to print through their server. The pharmacy then scans the barcode and the information has to leave the central provider and populate our system.

The pharmacist ( in our case), then checks the data for safety, dose, duration, appropriateness, funding, makes the instructions patient friendly, legal issues, supply issues, correct person, warning notes eg allergies etc

It is then ready to dispense by a pharmacy technician and the accuracy checked for correct medication, strength, quantity by our PACT (pharmacy accuracy checking technician) or pharmacist.

It is then scanned as ready to collect via text message and/or e-mail, or put for delivery if requested

There can be a few hiccups if we have to get the prescription changed or queried or the send button was never pushed.

Note hospital prescriptions are simply e-mailed. All prescriptions without signatures have to come to the pharmacy from the certified provider.

👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾

18/05/2026

Another smaller article explaining pharmacy rules; Section 29 medications ( medications that are not registered in New Zealand).

The process and cost of registering medication in New Zealand means some medications are imported but not registered. They still go through checks with Medsafe but it changes their legal status.

For. Pharmacy to order a section 29 medication we have to have a prescription and provide the patients name and the doctors name to order it.

This means it is not on the shelf ( unless many people get it and it comes in bigger packets). We have to order it in when we get the prescription.

Examples are CBD oil, medications that have run out in New Zealand and replacements from overseas have been sourced ( they have unregistered packaging).

This is why there may be a delay in filling prescriptions for unregistered medications.💊

13/05/2026

We have a winner!!! Congratulations Jessica K!

Nanny Val has knitted this beautiful size 1 to 2 year cardigan and hat. We have added The very hungry caterpillar and caterpillar toy.

$5 per ticket and only 100 tickets. All proceeds for Debbie❤️