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?...

I don't agree that's the 'nature of her work' or at least it doesn't have to be

I'm sure. This is in Ireland and it is typical, as it is for most medics and many para-medical roles.

I'm in an entirely different area of work & I also often work through lunch.

It might not be ideal, but it's reasonably standard.

One of the reasons for the shortage of community pharmacists too is that so many are leaving to work in primary care

Not in Ireland - we don't have that model.

It's usually because of the long days; it's female-dominated; they want (and can afford to - salary scales are quite good in Ireland for pharmacists) to work part-time, and many choose locum work as it pays well - all contributing to too few pharmacists being available.

Yes to this! The catering industry in particular. Why would someone have a break at a time they are likely to be busy because that's the time people require it most? Lots of staff pop out during their lunch hour to eat/do tasks such as collect their prescription...

Why would someone have a break at a time they are likely to be busy because that's the time people require it most
For the pharmacies that do still close, it's often because they are sole traders. Meaning they are there all day, every day. It's not sustainable to never have a break.

Whereas pharmacists who are employed will be on a shift or will work p/t and maybe more able to do it as it's not every day

Still obviously fairly undesirable.

Catering staff often work all kinds of hours, from early breakfast to late dinner, they never take breaks during times their customers need them most. I'm not saying pharmacists shouldn't have a break, but they must realise lots of their customers need them most during the traditional lunch hours ie; 12-2pm. Why on earth they feel its appropriate to close for a whole hour during that time is bizarre. A cafe wouldn't close between 1 and 2pm so their staff could have a lunch hour (plus who's even lucky enough to get a whole hour for lunch nowadays!)

Where I am (NI) very few pharmacies closed for lunch before COVID, and it was almost unheard of to have double cover!! You ate your lunch out the back in the tea room and had counter staff bringing you scripts to check or you had to go out to speak to customers during your break, you also didn't get paid over your break.

During COVID pharmacies were encouraged to close over lunch to give themselves a proper break, although I think most are back open again.

Prior to the Responsible pharmacist legislation in 2008 if the pharmacist wasn't there the shop was shut -end of. Since 2008 the responsible pharmacist can be absent for a period of up to 2 hours and can leave the premises but nothing more than a GSL medication can be sold - that includes your 32 pack of paracetamol which are a Pharmacy only pack!

In terms of deliveries the pharmacist is still overseeing them, and it's no different to the pharmacist giving a prescription to a member of the counter staff to give out, they have done the necessary checks, delivered and relevant counselling, received authorisation to deliver the item, the driver will have strict operating procedures to follow. The driver couldn't take an item from the dispensary and deliver it without telling the pharmacist.

In terms of why don't they have second cover, besides the fact that locum cover is so hard to come by, pharmacies are all independent businesses with a Health Service contact to dispense health service prescriptions. It's often not financially viable to pay two pharmacists wages, most multiples will only have a second pharmacist if their dispensing numbers are over a certain threshold. It's not about trying to cut corners either, many drugs are so expensive, and the pharmacies aren't always reimbursed the price they pay, there are drug shortages (thanks Brexit) as UK products now need a separate license to the exact same EU product. It's just a really tough time for community pharmacy at the minute.

It's not possible to pick up your prescription if the pharmacist is not there as they have to check every one that goes out. They are entitled to a lunch break.

Bizarre. Ours just has a sign up explaining this. You can still go in for other things and it says what time the pharmacist will be back.

Our local Boots closes. The WHOLE shop for an hour at lunch. It's ridiculous. This is a busy student area with people wanting to buy meal deals and general toiletries. The pharmacy counter could be closed but not the entire store !

Sadly not total guesswork when they close near me, 9 pharmacies within a 15 minute drive of my house all close at the same time. I needed an antibiotic for DC and had meetings the rest of the day.

GP surgeries shut at lunchtime so that isn’t actually generally the busiest time for a pharmacy..
it’s illegal not to take a break if you work for more than 6 hours. Catering staff don’t work through from early morning to evening without a break! And there needs to be a minimum staffing in a pharmacy much more than other places because it’s a higher risk due to there being lots of drugs on the premises..

Why are they not there?

Could they not have their lunch on the premises?

Are you telling me that pharmacists are hourly workers and not salaried?

It's not illegal to not take a break. You're entitled to a break if you work over 6 hours. It's not actually illegal for you not to stop working. What's not allowed is for your work to not allow you to take a break.

My local Pharmacist does! He owns his shop but needs time to eat without jumping upon and down constantly.

He needs peace for 30 mins. {all he takes}

Our local pharmacies seem to close for lunch between 1:30 and 2. I’m glad as they’re so often jam-packed with people picking up or dropping off prescriptions; wanting flu jabs, etc. The staff look run ragged sometimes. It’s a responsible job and they need 30 mins to regroup.

Why would he have to jump up and down?

Could the pharmacist not just eat lunch in peace unless there was an emergency? Not all the customers arriving during the lunch break are there for controlled substances.

And why are pharmacists getting an hour for lunch? Where I live, they are entitled to 30 minutes plus one 15-minute break per shift of six hours and up to twelve hours. In a twelve hour shift, they get 30 minutes for lunch and 2x15-minute breaks. Dispensing pharmacists can make over $100k per year.

Mine has a 24/7 vending machine thing which you can use to collect prescriptions. I love it!

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

It doesn’t work like that. A pharmacist must be in store/on site, otherwise even prescriptions already processed can’t be handed across. Also, there are many over the counter items that also can’t be sold without a pharmacist being on site even though people would normally never interact with them for these items. That leaves the nightmare of which ones can/can’t be sold during this time. Not to mention that a pharmacy licence is contingent on having a registered pharmacist on site to operate, so that overrides everything else anyway.

If people don’t like it, they should call rush into pharmacy training, graduate, get registered and fill the gaps. Then this won’t be an issue and they won’t need to complain.

@mathanxiety Could they not have their lunch on the premises?

How can you force people to take their entitled break time on premises for any profession? Thats not legal. Sure some places, people will need to clock out/clock back or swipe out/in (as I understand it for OHS purposes that you are not on site at that time), but you can’t make people stay on site in the workplace to eat lunch. In this particular scenario, you’ll likely find people would be disrupted during their lunch for some reason or other as well

Interesting. Is this in the UK? Because if so you've just proved every single "legally a pharmacist must be on the premises" post that's been repeated over and over on this thread

It is quite telling how many of the proposed solutions involve persuading professionals who are already in short supply to accept worse working conditions. They're already leaving community pharmacy in droves!

@Martinii

You're still missing the point! A cafe can stay open as staff can stagger lunch breaks.

I've said that many pharmacies don't close as the pharmacist doesn't take lunch. In the case where they do, it's often a sole trader who would have to work all day every day, dealing with a high volume of sensitive medication, with no break, ever as they are the only person that can deal with prescriptions and related queries. It's a legal and regulatory requirement, not simply a busy job.

@MrsBrie And schools close at the weekend. It's disgusting and old fashioned

Do you work? It's workers, especially full time, who have difficult accessing services as they often have fixed lunchtimes too!