To think Pharmacies shouldn't shut for lunch anymore

Others have also mentioned that when they do this, the staff who are covering and can't either sort prescriptions or sell some of the stock end up with loads of abuse.

Hence YABU.

They keep their doors open and people will be kicking off about why can't they get their medication now

Plus you do know that in other countries ( including those with less poverty ) all shops might shut for lunch and all day Sundays and half day mid week and the world doesn't fall apart

My dad was a community pharmacist on a London council estate and growing up I worked many summers and Saturdays in his pharmacy.

I don’t think he took a proper lunch break. He was usually delivering oxygen cylinders, dragging them up & down the stairs in tower blocks where the lifts didn’t always work, or delivering prescriptions to elderly customers who couldn’t get out. Or catching up on the backlog of prescriptions.

Occasionally I’d stay in the pharmacy over lunch when it was closed, hidden at the back. Sometimes people would kick and hit the door or spit on the windows when they realised they pharmacy was shut!

Yeah. They aren't going to hire two pharmacist just so one can have lunch

Pharmacists are a hot commodity and don't have to tolerate being expected to have lunch mid morning, though.

As PPs have said, they can't dispense withiuba pharmacist.Of course the pharmacist needs a lunch break, but when I worked in a bank branch (a long long time ago) we knew the lunch period was our busiest so our lunch breaks were either 11am or 2pm. DS works in a coffee shop and they do the same, which makes sense to be available when most customers need them.

Love that OP never bothered to come back to the thread to acknowledge they were completely uninformed.

Most pharmacists I know, simply don't take a lunch break (Ireland). It's a hugely pressured job, especially with the degree of medicine shortages at present.

Staff often get moaned at/abused when they stay open but can give out prescriptions because the pharmacist is on their break. I don’t blame them for closing completely.

Ha! Where I live (rural), they sometimes have to share one pharmacist between two towns, so alternate opening mornings or afternoons.

My village pharmacy has recently gone from closed for 30 minutes a day and being open 8.30-6 plus Saturday mornings to 9.30-5, closed 1-2.30, Wednesdays 9.30-1 only, and no weekend openings.
I have had to switch pharmacies, as it is impossible for anyone who works.

I think even some of the bigger ones just can't get more hours covered. There's a real pharmacist shortage.

My large Boots shuts for an hour at lunch

Does it annoy you because you want to go to the pharmacy in your lunch break?

All the local pharmacies do this - they just have a sign up in the window and/or at the counter telling you when the pharmacist is at lunch

Why don't YOU have your lunch at a different time, OP?

You think the pharmacist is being unreasonable having a lunch break at...well... lunchtime, but it's ok for other people?

You don't want the person dishing out your medication to be hungry and unfocused.

My chemist doesn't dispense between 2-3pm, so tries to cater for the "lunchtime rush" mentioned above for those who only have one hour in the day the can collect their prescription.

The one I use stays open so you can buy stuff off the shelf but non OTC meds aren't available.

No prescription meds can be given out when the pharmacist is not there sonits probably easier to shut than listen to people whinging about it.

My pharmacy used to close for an hour. They clearly acknkwledged that some people have to go at lunchtime so they would close 2-3 or 2.30 -3.30.

The shop would be open for limited goods to be sold (toiletries etc).and you could hand prescriptions in but then they stopped that. Recently they've obviously scheduled shifts differently so there's always a pharmacist there and they don't need to close.

this ^ people would be arseholes to the remaining staff - its not worth the agro

Ours stays open but you can't pick up prescriptions between 1.30 and 2.30 as that's when the pharmacist has lunch.

I used to work as a pharmacy dispenser in a chain store that was open all day. The pharmacist would go on his lunch so the pharmacy counter would close but the wider store itself would remain open. I legally couldn't hand anything out and the abuse I got from people screaming at me to give them their prescriptions was unbelievable. I was threatened, had customers try to push past me and climb over/behind the counter. It was hell. Spare a thought for pharmacy staff who CANNOT give medication out but are forced to stay there anyway to sell OTC. Pharmacy work is intense, repetitive and mentally draining because if you mess up, you could potentially kill someone. Give them a break.

The pharmacy is only closed when the pharmacist is on lunch. Everyone is entitled to a lunch break. The other staff stagger their lunch breaks. A pharmacist has to be present when prescriptions are dispensed.

This. I imagine most places only have one pharmacist as there’s a massive shortage.