From Mr I. Tannenbaum, MRPharmS
SIR,—The profession has become fragmented. Private pharmacies and private chains are diminishing rapidly, creating millionaire and multi-millionaire ex-proprietors, who happen to have been in the right place at the right time. But to the young, ambitious qualifiers, there is no hope of doing things their own way.
Experiencing the variety of environments in community pharmacy, one can be horrified at some. Many premises should be obliged to examine the circumstances in which they operate. In many, not a penny has been spent in decades on upgrading. Many proprietors have had the good fortune to negotiate the sale of their contracts to the monopolistic multiples, for fortunes, and retired.
On the other hand, to work in modern fitted pharmacy departments in the supermarkets, in an environment exposed to the general shopping population, noise, and hustle bustle, also under the ever watchful eyes of non-pharmacist store managers, can be demeaning, intimidating and cause low self-esteem. Being in the employ of the supermarkets and chain "giants" takes away initiative, independence and choice of modus operandi, having to operate strictly within the bounds of rigid company policies, which are enforced by levels of management that go to the top.
The attitude of many pharmacists in this situation is essentially "Take the money, and run!" What manner of life is this for an intelligent, well-educated, self-thinking professional, with inborn drive and ambition.
Of course, there are those who, seeing no alternative, try to make their way up the company management ladder, but they are forever under the strict control of those still higher up, whose sole brief is to satisfy shareholders and bite deeper into retail ownership. Others just want a well-paid job, and not have the responsibilities of business ownership and steering their own careers.
It is no wonder that many leave the profession to seek a future in other fields, or become their own bosses by embarking on "careers" as locums.
I. Tannenbaum Hove, East Sussex