Collecting prescription frustrating for patient and pharmacist

[Allchangename354]

I know that the pharmacies are very busy so this isn’t a criticism just confusion. Is there not a better way that dispensed prescriptions ready to collect can be labelled or stored? Could the computer at least show which shelf, if not drawer to look in?

I go to the pharmacy, the prescription is ready. The pharmacist or assistant has to open multiple drawers and rummage. They are very busy and run ragged. That bit just seems inefficient and frustrating for them and people collecting.

(My GP will not do repeat prescription through an online pharmacy and I can’t be home to receive a delivery so I need to get it in person. There have also been mistakes at pharmacy or GP end and it’s easier to check before I leave. Again not a criticism mistakes happen.)

We have a machine to collect ours from. Like a cash point. We order the repeat prescription from the pharmacy website, they get it from the GP and dispense it. When it’s ready they text us a PIN and we pop down anytime to collect from the machine. It’s absolutely fantastic!

I wish they would. I order mine via the nhs app, I allow two weeks yet do often it's not ready, and for dp just not available meaning a dash around the local pharmacies to find stock. Online was rubbish, they just failed to deliver his and didn't even tell him they weren't going to supply. Why they can't have a system for long term conditions I don't understand

I work in a pharmacy, we number our storage boxes and then write on the prescription which box it’s in.

I have a 6monthly prescription for my condition, for long term meds the dr sends it down they make it up and I pick it up it’s very good saves doing it every few weeks or month. The picking up from machine sounds really good too

All the love for this! Total convert here when our pharmacy installed one, so much easier

Same here, absolutely game changer

Mine does exactly what you describe. It's in a section of a storage thing the computer tells them where. They go and get it. All very simple.

I hate our pharmacy.

Massive queues. Everytime someone asks for a prescription they seem to have to go through every single box which are all stuffed to bursting.

And l can’t do postal prescriptions as l have to order something every 3 weeks.

Huge rummage through boxes and shelves here.
Even if I give it double the requisite 3 days there's always something missing and I have to come back another day.
It's a rural surgery with dispensary.

I wish mine wouldnt gaslight me. I ordered an inhaler 4 months ago now.
Each time I go down for it I get a different reason for not getting it. I paid for it 18 weeks ago. Can bet by the time I get it they will have conveniently forgotten this. Then a check will have to be done that the receipt I have is for that actual inhaler. And in 6 months I get to do this all over again.
I've complained often and loudly but they dont care.
It's the only chemist affiliated with my GP.

I work in a pharmacy and this is what we do too. It's normally pretty quick and easy.

I’d try a different pharmacy IME they vary wildly and it’s not to do with how busy they are it’s down to organisation

I have a choice of three pharmacies - one that’s staffed by Mrs Overall and Tim nice but Dim, one that only ever has half of the prescription in stock and can never find our name on their computer system and one the rummaging one, who I have to lean over the counter and say, no it’s that one behind there, yes that right, no it’s in the fridge.

sigh. I’m not sure what the answer is. Maybe work more quickly, put on the patient record where their rx is?

Yes, ours seems to be a "rummage through every box on the shelf" one, rather than a "go straight to the number" one.

Also I don't like how they stand back, largely behind a high display and rarely hear a "confirm your date of birth" response in a normal voice, and I really dislike having to say personal info in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. (Not that I really think they're all villains waiting to steal my identity, but it's still just not right).

I wonder if there's some sort of pharmacists' union magazine, and if it ever runs surveys on patients' responses to various set ups? Or attempts to define best practice about personal information in busy shops?

I have had dreadful problems finding a good pharmacy here. One would not download prescriptions daily from the spine. My GP authorised my prescription on a Friday. The pharmacy downloaded it the following Tuesday. I went to collect it on the Wednesday and as one of the items has to be ordered in I couldn't collect it all. The missing item was the one I had run out of and needed urgently. All pharmacies have to order it so I couldn't get it elsewhere.
Another pharmacy prints the prescription but waits until you come to collect before dispensing it. If the pharmacist is busy it can be a half hour wait.

I am so glad I am able to use the pharmacy at my gp surgery. They find stuff quickly, no queues. They also say to allow 3 working days from requesting to collection. I have used normal pharmacies in the past and am so glad I don’t have to now.
The only thing I don’t like is having to tell them my address and date of birth when all the people in the waiting room can hear.

Oh wow to the machine! Mine is a rummage pharmacy 🙄

Our pharmacy has two queues. One for those who have received a text saying their prescription is ready, and one for everyone else. Fine if there are two staff working, but today the staff member on the 'general' queue went off out the back and didn't return to the counter. The other staff member carried on serving the texters, completely ignoring the fact that they'd just walked in the door and people in the other queue had nobody serving them at all.

Two queues is fine, but only if both lots can actually get served. I was displeased.

Ours is the "sort and rummage variety" of pharmacy. Even worse when I had regular meds I was always caught between the GP surgery and the pharmacy.
Surgery would say "no we sent the prescription 3 days ago to the pharmacy"
Pharmacy would say "it must be at the doctors still".

I got wise to this and would go to the pharmacy and when they said they hadn't got it then I'd call the surgery on my mobile in front of them. A few time.i handed my mobile over to them so they could speak to the surgery. I appreciate it wasn't standard meds but what a faff!

That's fantastic! I wish more places did that!

I worked in a pharmacy - we had a system where the shelf/section of shelf had a reference that corresponded to where the items were e.g. 6C.

The problem is that there could be 10-15 other prescriptions also stored in that section, so some rummaging is still required!

We tried our best to keep it neat and alphabetical but often space and time makes that easier said than done.

Our local chemist was a Lloyd's and it was terrible. Local politicians involved, their area managers involved, no improvement. Then Lloyd's pulled out of all sorts of places and ours got taken on by an independent and it's really improved. Boots in the nearest town has been really struggling lately so I'm going back to the local one. It's a rare good news story.

Our pharmacy used to be an independent, that was a lovely shop that had all sorts of interesting brands of supplements, accessories, toiletries, baby care etc etc etc

Got taken over by Lloyds and now uses only a fraction of the shop floor (they've literally rebuilt a counter to block off all the unused space), next to nothing is on display for you to browse from, and it's a "rummage and listen to everyone else's personal details" one.

Appreciate the OP can't do online, but for anyone else struggling, sign up to a delivery service. Mine is with Lloyds Pharmacy. It's been a game changer, from queing forever, only to find it's not ready and having to go back another day, to having an email reminder that it's due, agreeing, then it arriving by post a few days later.

I stopped using my local Boots because they did this. "What's the name?" then a five minute rummage through every single bag waiting for collection as they don't seem to have a system.

Our local Lloyds chemist was then taken over by a new, local company and they DELIVER!! It's amazing! I get a regular thyroid prescription and every 8 weeks a wee man turns up at the door with my meds.