To think most people have no idea how much a pharmacy dispenser earns?

Awful people on this thread, entitled and rude, so depressing, although I don’t know why I’m surprised. Only the other day there was a thread about people earning a tonne of money for doing piss all - all the m’netters were piling on that one to tell the OP not to worry about doing nothing for her sizeable salary and they and their husbands doing piss all too. I always imagine them writing these mean and entitled comments dripping off a bar stool on their dreary but much loved and coveted kitchen island. We are in a broken upside down economy for which parasitic work is handsomely rewarded while the stuff we all need and care about is degraded and demoralised, from schools and hospitals to local post offices and pharmacies. Unfortunately it’s very much a case of ‘don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone’.

Try a job as an imaging assistant in Radiology, pay similar but much less responsibility, usually opportunities to progress if you are interested.

Yes I think HCAs, Pharmacy dispensers, TAs, carers should get paid more, but while people have the same attitude as mumsnetters they won't.

I know min wage is going up but it is such a struggle to pay for everything earning that and living alone
Even my old job (emergency call handler) was only band 3 and that's an incredibly stressful job

Dispensers work totally under the supervision of a pharmacist. The pharmacist screens the prescription for clinical suitability, checks patient records, speaks to dr if any problems. They assist on the medicine counter but any questions or doubts about suitability, requests for advice should go to the pharmacist. So yes it is more skilled than normal shop work but it’s not independent work so I’d expect a few pounds more than minimum wage. Wages often don’t correspond to skill level though, it’s relatively straightforward and quick to qualify and you can do it while working which makes it easier to recruit I guess? Pharmacy technicians need a level 3 which is done on the job and are much better paid, can you do the qualification in a hospital?
to qualify as a basic level pharmacist is a 4 year masters degree plus a year pre-registration training. Starting salary for technician in nhs is around 25k and around 35k for pharmacist so if you’re older the cost of the degree and the time without a salary whilst at uni is potentially not financially advantageous

I'm an Accuracy Checking Technician. BTEC LEVEL 3 NVQ 2 & 3. Pharmacy manager. Years of experience; in community pharmacies and GP dispensaries.
I am registered with the GPHC, pay annual professional fees; I have to maintain my training each year. I can sign passport applications like a GP.
To all those who think it's " just sticking a label on a box " you're having a laugh.
The level of operating procedures, training and product knowledge we have to learn and follow ( from day one, not just at my advanced level ) is unreal.
And so yes, we as a profession, are vastly unpaid and judging by many on this thread, undervalued.
I have been working as a self employed locum since covid and I can tell you that the public are in for a shock as pharmacies are closing down in huge numbers.
Underfunding means private pharmacy owners no longer see it as a profitable business. Online pharmacies don't work for the majority.

Never ending drug shortages and increasing delays cause patients to lash out verbally ( occasionally physically ) at pharmacy staff.
So we are leaving in droves.
I'm actually shocked at people who think it's like working in a supermarket.

Why so rude? You're the type of person who laughs at us when we ask for your address when handing out a prescription

Some people come on MN just to be arses. Ignore 'em.

Sorry, your reply came across a bit condescending. If unintended then I apologise. I'm never rude to pharmacy staff.

You are required to have an NVQ in pharmacy services and OTC training

Why so rude? You're the type of person who laughs at us when we ask for your address when handing out a prescription.

Maybe I can't be arsed. 😂

'Dispenser' implies that you dispense things, which could literally be taking them off a shelf. It's not called 'Pharmacy Consultant' lol.

I work next to a Dr's, the majority of our work comes from them. They make mistakes,
occasionally, dosage of medicines etc. The pharmacist and dispensers check and double check everything and pick errors up and sort it out.
Us mere dispensers, do way more than stick a label on. We help, we listen, we advise, but most of all you can access us straightway. No calling 60 plus times on the phone.
We work bloody hard, as do a lot of under appreciated professionals.

Maybe you should research what dispensers do. The clue is in the name. I also did two posts earlier in the thread of everything we do. We are not just counter staff.

I don't think it's unskilled work, and I can think of many people I encounter who I would not want to fill out my prescription, who would not have the reasonable English, Maths, and customer service skills required to do this job. My cleaner gets £15 an hour, so I would expect it to be more than that (although my cleaner is quite skilled in that she knows her products and cleans much better and faster than I ever could).

I thought OP was going to say it was more than one would expect. I'm not sure exactly what training they need but surely it can't be that much more than most retail jobs. Don't they just check on the system and then go and take something off the shelf?

To be honest it’s basic training work so I’m not surprised . And yes I do believe they should own paid more

@Berlioz23
what job did you get? pharmacist here too and thinking about changing profession...

Wow this thread is so insulting. I think some PPs are enjoying telling OP that dispensers shouldn’t get paid anything and that it is totally unskilled work. And yet another thread where teachers are claiming that their job is the most important job in the world (they apparently save lives now). It explains why the TAs on that other thread got so much sympathy, but you don’t.

I absolutely think you should earn more, and yes, more than retail workers. As should many HCAs. You have very specific advanced skills. I’m surprised you get paid so little.

Well done OP for not rising to the unwarranted contempt for your profession displayed on this thread. I’ll never understand why some people seem to enjoy being mean.

I do! But I’m a pharmacist. To be quite honest the whole profession is very very under valued both monetarily & in public attitudes. Because of its high street locations & accessibility people don’t compute that the whole team are highly trained nor what we actually do. It’s definitely not just sticking a label on a box or scanning a shampoo

The pay is £10.75-11 in my area Cheshire for a Dispenser. I used to work on the counter and did OTC training, I gained my Medicine Counter Assistant qualification. I used to earn about £10 an hour

The time to be responsible and gain a lot of knowledge and qualifications is at school and then going on to further education. Being a pharmacy dispenser is a job, not a career with advancement. You're either the pharmacist with a lot of knowledge and qualifications, or you're the assistant. Go into a career in local Government or Social Care, if you want a job that offers further training and qualifications and a rising salary band according to experience. Otherwise you have an extraordinarily wide range of jobs suited to different people and skills and lifestyles, all on minimum wage. Your real fight is why minimum wage is not a living wage for so many. (Roof over head, all bills paid, food on table, without Gov handouts)

Are you for real ?!?!??
wow.

Yes, a dispenser is different to the pharmacist, aren't they? So, I would class it as a retail job, so it's pretty low down there.

Weirdly, I’d not ever thought about this until today - completely independent of this thread. A local branch of Boots is looking to recruit a new dispenser, and although it didn’t say what the pay was on the advert, judging by the list of job requirements I thought to myself that they mustn’t be on much more than minimum wage.