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?...

They’re getting an hour for lunch because that’s what they want. Very often the pharmacist is actually the business owner, and even if they are not they can dictate their own working hours as they are in very short supply. And lots of people don’t want to eat in the back of a shop, they want to go home or go to a restaurant or cafe at lunchtime like most people.

They are entitled to a break, to leave the premises and get a bit of fresh air? If they stay and check prescriptions during that time, they're not getting a lunch break are they!

Our local little boots closed from 1.30 to 2.30 during covid and hasn't gone back. I don't blame them at all. That I think is the pharmacists break. The other staff ( there is never more than 3 of them) Take different breaks but spend that hour sorting out the rest of the shop and admin.

Same here it’s crazy. There’s a Morrisons, Sainsbo and Tesco Metro all within 20 yards.

They’re rammed at lunch time ( massive student population and 3 schools where kids are allowed to leave premises)). How much money is Boots losing?

It’s in the UK. But I think the machine acts as the ‘delivery driver’ so that once it is in there, the pharmacist is not responsible.

Yes I work

But they don't have to check all prescriptions.

Most people?

I think you're describing the world of Enid Blyton. Most people I know eat at their desks. An hour for lunch is extraordinary.

It will only take one chain getting established and paying above the average to attract pharmacists and all the little mom or pop operations will go the way of the rest of the dinosaurs.

There are no techs?

Even the independent pharmacy in my US town has two pharm techs.

@mathanxiety looks like you are in the US? Pharmacy is really poorly funded here in comparison because it’s mainly nhs work. For dispensing a prescription item a pharmacy received roughly a pound plus the cost of the drug is reimbursed to them at a later stage (so they’re out of pocket for a while). That pound covers the entire service! People pay hundreds for their medication in the US and pharmacists are paid much better. So no there are generally no pharmacy technicians, there are dispensers who are not as qualified. I suspect the laws are also quite different around supervision etc

I'm just really happy they are there for when we need them and the information they give about my prescription .
Most of their customers are not young so can pick-up when needed . When I was younger I knew the reason they shut at lunch time , and I just have to find the time when they were open . I'm grateful for our pharmacists .

What? Is this for real ?

I grew up like this in the 70’s in NZ, but it must have changed when I was about 10.

Here in Aus, my local pharmacy is open 7 days a week 8am-8pm. Two pharmacists on at a time.

It's almost like things are different in different countries 🤨

You can't be unaware that the Australian health care model, especially primary care, is massively different than in either UK or Ireland, and in this respect at least, much better.

Because there is only one pharmacist in my 2 local chemists and if they don't eat, then they'll be no help to anyone.
The chemist is usually open until 6pm and there is just one hour when they ask you to come back later if you have a query that only the pharmacist can answer.

@mathanxiety you are comparing the UK to the US. Salaries in the UK are nowhere near what you are quoting. You can't compare like for like because the whole system works differently.

Some stores won't shut for lunch and the pharmacist will just sit in the back and get a bite to eat when they can. Unless that's your choice, it's shit because everyone deserves a break to recharge and being tired isn't an excuse when it comes to a dispensing error.

Pharmacists are entitled to a lunchbreak like any other profession. What is poor is if is not advertised on the website with their opening hours or at the very least on the door. Absolutely complain about that but if you enjoy your lunch break don't begrudge someone else theirs.

I remember when some smaller business used to shut for half day on Wednesdays , some probably still do .

A dispensing technician rightly cannot approve prescriptions.

So when people work they complain they don't get a break but when others take a break that is an issue

They did not have a meeting and go 'how can we annoy customers today' they have their reasons

Ours doesn’t close but the pharmacist isn’t there so I can’t get my controlled drugs so I have to remember to go first thing before work

I get a controlled drug {painkiller} prescribed, and had a new pharmacist.

They handed me a bigger feeling packet than usual , and when I got outside, I opened the bag...and saw that I'd been given an extra box.

Goodness knows how that happened.

Anyway...I took the extra box back immediately...the pharmacist was shocked and very grateful.

Haven't ever had an error done like that before or since, though.

Correct, and it's the same in the US, but a tech can dispense a prescription that has already been approved, and if a pharmacist takes half an hour for lunch, there isn't much of a delay in getting it approved and filled (in the case of most prescriptions).

Where I live, pharmacists are entitled to 30 minutes for lunch in a six hour shift. They would be hard pressed to leave, get to a restaurant, order, eat, and get back within 30 minutes.

If your average sole trader pharmacist is taking an hour for lunch, they'll lose business if / when someone else sets up shop locally and takes half an hour for lunch. Treating your customers as if they have nothing better to do with their time than wait for you or take time off their paid work when you have them over a barrel is not a good business model.

@MrsBrie I am with you. I moved to England from Scotland and was shocked at the lunch break closure. And Sunday closing at 4pm. I honestly never ever had experienced this. So yes. It’s awful. Part of the problem is the model of pharmacies being attached to surgeries etc. It means there’s lots of small pharmacies rather than concentrating staff into bigger operations more centrally. Having said that there are small pharmacies in every village I’ve ever lived in in Scotland and they manage with one pharmacist not to close at lunch. The dispensing tech can handover the meds as long as pharmacist has checked them so they don’t have to actually be standing there all the time to visualise each handover.

They are not allowed to open unless a pharmacist is present and working. It's pretty straightforward. You can buy all over counter meds at a supermarket if the timing doesn't work.

makes me wonder how my pharmacist has a holiday, or what happens if he were to go off sick
he is there every day from 8 until 6
the chemist is open at 9 and closes 1 til 2.15, and often i go in at 5 to 6 and i am not the only one!