Dr Francesco Farneti

Dr Francesco Farneti is the owner of Farmacia Farneti, an Alphega Pharmacy based in Legorno, Italy. He has worked as an owner pharmacist for 18 years, taking over Farmacia Farneti from his father, a family business of four generations. Dr Farneti is a passionate advocate of his profession, constantly looking to innovate and pioneer new services in his community, such as setting up a dedicated cardio facility on the first floor of his pharmacy. He also has set up a very popular community events, Farneti Games and Healthcare Village.

“As a pharmacist, I have a great opportunity to work in the healthcare field, which ultimately is there to help people. Every day, I meet customers and patients and try to understand how to help them best, developing a trusted relationship with them. Throughout this journey, my goal is make sure that they leave my pharmacy feeling satisfied with the service they received.

I like my job of an owner pharmacist very much. I enjoy the freedom of making decisions as a business owner, and I love the healthcare aspect of the job as well.

I believe that one of my biggest achievements to date is having been able to build my pharmacy according to the model I always had in my mind, which allows me to get close to customers and serve them most effectively.

I have also created a great team: we have a trusted relationship and this allows me to run my pharmacy more efficiently, aiming to always be at the forefront both when it comes to offering new services and also in reaching important business goals. Such goals include, for example, embracing and utilizing technology in healthcare (the results of the digital ECG testing can be available in as little as 15 minutes!), or launching home testing for patients.

One of the other highlights for my team and I is of course the Farneti Games, a community family day which is both educational and fun.  The event was born in 2013; I wanted to create an event out of the pharmacy setting, during which I could get to know my customers and patients in a more informal, friendly and personal way. I thought that this could alleviate the usual challenges related to serving customers in the pharmacy, such as not having enough time to spend with each patient, which would make it easier to present new services, products and special offers.

Farneti Games takes place once a year, as a day of celebrating health, good food, entertainment and joy, where both adults and children get together to enjoy sporting activities and learn about prevention of common illnesses. The event is becoming more and more successful every year, attracting hundreds of local families and I want to continue developing it further, bringing more and more people together. This year, for example, I have also added a pet health aspect to the event, which has been very popular.

The inspiration to set up Farneti Games came from my daughter, who was three at the time. I wanted to organize an event where she could be entertained and have a good time together with her friends. I now have a little son as well, who can also enjoy taking part in the event.

I am conscious that nowadays, the National Healthcare System is under a lot of pressure to provide an efficient and fast professional help when it comes to minor ailments and first level screenings (blood tests, ECG (electrocardiogram), Echography and the like), and so the role of the pharmacist is becoming more and more important for the community. It is a great responsibility, but for a pharmacist, it is one they must embrace with pride. We must strongly believe in our role and invest in new and efficient services in order to establish ourselves as the go to healthcare professionals in the local community."