To ask people to cherish their local Pharmacies

[Oldsu]

A lot of people have been advocating companies like Pharmacy2u (who were fined for selling patients data by the ICO) and other companies who provide a postal service for prescriptions, during the pandemic they may be a boon, at other times they may be convenient, but they will destroy local Pharmacy services and ultimately cost the NHS money. NHS England have a scheme called think Pharmacy first encouraging people to use them instead of getting a GP appt or go to A&E for minor matters, if local Pharmacies close people once more will have to use precious front line resources at a cost to the NHS. These companies may employ Pharmacists but they cant advise on over the counter medicine and how it may interact with other medication, they can't reassure a scared mum whose child has a funny rash. Please think behind the publicity blurb, please think beyond the pandemic, and imagine a time when you need help NOW but cant get a GP appoint for 3 weeks and your local Pharmacy that has been serving your community for years has closed down. I don't work for a Pharmacy this is just my opinion

Our local pharmacy are amazing - they always are, but particularly at the moment. Everything is being delivered free of charge by volunteers, you can phone them if you need anything non prescription and it will be delivered, and they are still super helpful if you have an issue.

Boots (our only other pharmacy), you can't go in. You queue up outside till you get to the front of the queue, tell them your name, then queue up the other side of the shop till your name is called

Noeuf trainee or not, if something doesn't seem right, as a professional it absolutely should be challenged.

I'm a hospital based pharmacist and we make interventions all the time whether the error issue by a junior doctor or consultant.

My community colleagues are only trying to do their job properly by asking questions when supplying medicines. It's a shame all they seem to receive is abuse and no thanks (I don't dispute that there are terrible, rude pharmacists however).

Flora I wasn't rude. I had to go away and come back later when they rang to say I could collect it. She didn't spot an error - she hadn't heard of the condition, looked everything up, wanted my son's weight - all stuff done in the appointment and pointless.

Adore the independent pharmacy we use. My family have used it for over 50 years and it has passed down through generations of pharmacists. We don't even live local to it anymore but my GP faxes all scripts to them and I am happy to go out of my way.

They went out of their way to support us when my DM was dying of cancer, know all of their regular customers by name and I would trust their advice implicitly.

I have to say I'm really disappointed with our local pharmacy, at the beginning of this pre lock-down they were selling single use masks for 50p now £7.50 I think this is disgraceful in these times

My relative's local pharmacy used to deliver meds but stopped doing it a year ago. No good for people with mobility issues and that's before Covid when people need to shield. I don't live nearby to collect for them so they use Echo now. I agree OP it's good to support local businesses, pharmacies included, but they need to return that support or people will be forced to go elsewhere.

Noeuf apologies, I meant in general people tend to be rude not specifically you.

Yes it was done in the appointment but the pharmacist doesn't have that information. They're liable for what is dispensed and it's best practice to research a drug/condition you're unfamiliar with to make sure that treatment supplied is appropriate.

Thanks Flora I'm surprised that not knowing a condition or its treatment is so disruptive - like I say it wasn't an error or unusual. She just started looking it up and then said she wanted to speak to them and I had to go back later. The consultant was irritated, I lost my day back and forth into town- surely she could have just asked the pharmacist there? The med is quite non contentious.

Usually for one of the meds we get a red sticker from a new pharmacist and they ask me about it when I collect (very high dose of something).

No thanks, our local one is appalling so I use an online one instead.

My local pharmacy have always been rude and unhelpful, and once gave me someone else’s medication. YABU. If businesses are losing customers then just telling customers off isn’t the way.

Mine is a Lloyd’s though and I hadn’t twigged that wasn’t what you meant

They should have discussed with the pharmacist absolutely. It may have been that the pharmacist didn't know (sorry if it's your regular and they do) or that they were trying to practice their intervention making skills which shouldn't have impacted on you in such a disruptive way.

Things would be able to be sorted faster though if Drs were easier to get hold of 😂

@Noeuf

Flora i just wanted to thank you for replying to me so nicely and with information.

Our local independent is always empty but the boots quarter of a mile away has a massive queue. I know where I'll be going in I need anything!

Most pharmacy chains work on the principle that it takes 48 hours for you to get a prescription written and signed by a gp and then another 48 hours to be made up in the chemist. The prescriptions are usually labelled one day and made up the next. This is to ensure that the items are ordered so that they can be made to the next day. As most people should be able to appreciate people are prescribed all sorts of drugs in all sorts of strengths and pharmacies cannot stock them all, they do not have infinite space. There are also manufacturers shortages all the time which staff won't know about until the order goes through. A good chemist will take your number and contact you when they find out thos is the case to see of you want to try elsewhere or contact the dr for an alternative.

Trying to maintain social distancing for pharmacy teams is practically impossible as pharmacies are usually small. They can however reduce their exposure by serving customers at the door or allowing one in at a time. The staff working in chemists have families too and are people they have every right to consider their own safety too. An already busy chemist will have queues around the block if they are letting in one person at a time or serving at the door. It is not ideal in any circumstance but these are unprecedented times. Avoiding going to such a chemist makes sense, ask your go to send your prescription elsewhere.

In any profession there is good and bad but I have to speak up on behalf of my colleagues who have gone out to work at an incredibly stressful time with an ever increasing workload because gps have closed their doors to the public. There will always be good and poor pharmacists and patients can decide where they would like to send their prescriptions. There are also plenty of rude ignorant customers about too!

Noeuf thank you for listening and being receptive!

I promise we aren't trying to be jobsworths, we're trying to do what we spent 5 years studying for and most of us have your best interests at heart.

Thread hijack over!