To think Pharmacies shouldn't shut for lunch anymore

[MrsBrie]

Hi,

It just seems so old fashioned and unnecessary and I don't see any argument for it. Yes, everyone is entitled to a lunch break - of course, but why does the entire pharmacy need to close? Can't they stagger the staff lunch breaks, like everywhere else?

It's not like it's not an important place? What about the people who need their prescriptions and can only pick it up in that hour? I suspect that's a lot of people.

Also, with GPs now really encouraging people to see their pharmacists first, this just seems even more unjustified.

Assuming it's not just me who thinks this?...

Because the pharmacist has to be working for the staff to give out medication. It's the law.

Most companies manage to stay open over lunch. In a 24hour world it’s bizarre to shut a company for a lunch break rather than rota staff accordingly

Ask those who’s prescriptions haven’t yet been processed to come back but be open to accept the prescription and to deal with other over the counter items.

Because there is only one pharmacist in a pharmacy and they need to be there to dispense medication - and they’re legally entitled to a break so it has to shut

Most pharmacies only employ one pharmacist. Staff can't dispense medication without them. There is a huge shortage of pharmacists so do retrain if you have an issue with the service they provide.

Most pharmacies will only have one pharmacist.
The pharmacist will need to have a lunch break.

Yes. Normally only one pharmacist and they need a lunch break. Legally there has to be a pharmacist working to operate

People would kick off so much it’s probably easier to shut.

Because presumably you don’t expect the pharmacist to work the whole day without a break?! There's legalities around prescriptions, “other staff” can’t just hand them out and it’s presumably uneconomical for a small local pharmacy to employ a second pharmacist just to cover breaks.

My local Tesco one is open until 10pm though. You can get prescriptions delivered. I don’t think access to pharmacists, prescriptions and medical help is being held back by pharmacy lunch breaks to be honest.

Pharmacists are in short supply, and as pp have said , most local chemists have one , who needs a break.

Many of the items which are behind the counter but available to buy also need a pharmacist present to be sold.

Local pharmacy to me does do one late night per week to allow commuters to pick up prescriptions. They collect from GP surgery and deliver to those who cannot get out. I think they do enough to be honest.

Because most pharmacies only have one pharmacist and the staff are not legally allowed to give out medication without them being present.

A lot of pharmacies are closing down due to pharmacist shortages and some issues where they have to buy the drugs in at more than the government reimburses them

They literally cannot hand over the meds unless there is a pharmacist on duty.

Whether they could get round it by the pharmacist being on call in the staff room, I don’t know.

Seems fair enough they shut over lunch then!

Unless you feel that pharmacists should be forcibly prevented from taking the breaks that they are legally allowed, YABU.

Our local one changed to being open all day but making people aware the pharmacist was unavailable between 1 & 130

It was a shambles. So many people didn't realise that prescriptions can't be handed out without her being there

It lasted a matter of weeks before they started closing again

Because it’s their shop and they want to?

Have your prescription re-routed to a bigger pharmacy then. As others have mentioned, a small local is not going to employ an additional pharmacist just to cover lunch break.

Dont know why they don’t just allow people to pick their own and self check out 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Honestly they need a qualified professional to dispense prescription medications, and that individual needs a lunch break!!!

Most companies don't require a pharmacist on duty in order to go about their core business.

I understand why it's necessary for smaller ones running with a single pharmacist. The part that annoys me is that they don't stagger with other pharmacies in the area and update their websites/Google to show the closed times so you can choose the right one. It's total guesswork when they decide to take the lunch break.

The other staff need a break too - it's probably rather more efficient for them all to have their lunch break at the same time, and easier for people to remember when they're closed than when the pharmacist is there. It also reduces the chance of stroppy customers spotting them eating their lunch in the back and trying to insist that their lunch is interrupted.

As others have said need a pharmacist to be on duty. Given how busy they are I wouldn’t be surprised if they were also doing behind the scenes work such as urgent prescriptions or calls as part of the time they are closed.

It’s usually to do with the Pharmacist as they’re entitled to a lunch break and staff can’t dispense without them. I understand your frustration - the pharmacy near me opens at 9am (after I’ve started work) and closes for lunch 13:00-14:15 (when I get my lunch break) and then closes at 17:30 (I’m usually on the nursery run at that time). If it’s not urgent I have to wait till Saturday and I just plan picking up my repeat prescriptions around those times and reorder in plenty of time. If I’m poorly unexpectedly and need a prescription asap, I ask the prescribing GP to send it to the bigger pharmacy further away which opens 8am-6:30pm and has no lunch break, so I have more options for picking it up. A lot of large pharmacies or those attached to larger medical centres have longer hours and don’t always close for lunch as they have more than one pharmacist.

This.

The only place that gets more unnecessary and uncalled for online/facebook abuse than the pharmacists in our neck of the woods is the GP Surgery.

Something incredibly entitled and unreasonable comes over people when it comes to healthcare.