In-store pharmacies
  Prescribing
  NSF for older people
  Community pharmacy
  Homoeopathy
  Meningitis and the HAJ
  Education
  The Army
  Folic acid
  Nurse prescribing
  Labelling
  The Journal
  The Society

In-store pharmacies

Voting with one's feet

From Mr J. J. McArdle, MRPharmS

I read with interest that A. Rahman disagrees with the terms and conditions of working in a supermarket (PJ, April 7, p465). As an area manager for a multiple retail company, it has always been my view that people should “vote with their feet” and not work under such conditions, ie, they either accept them or go elsewhere.

Jonathan Brocklebank (PJ, March 3, p282) stated that, after working for another multiple (not ours), he was too tired after 11-hour shifts to do anything. Having worked for the company for 20-odd years, he had decided to resign. I do not blame him. If more pharmacists adhered to their principles rather than compromising themselves and moaning about everything, the profession would probably be in a far better state.

John McArdle
Birmingham

Criticism not justified

From Mr C. H. Mercer, MRPharmS

It is regrettable that A. Rahman (PJ, April 7, p465), in expressing his no doubt genuine concerns about what he perceives to be wrong with pharmacies in supermarkets, has allowed his invective to get the better of him. In his attempt to paint such a black picture with such a broad brush and with scant regard to actual evidence, he does his argument no favours. Permit me to examine the issues he raises.

He seems to suggest that it is possible to acquire a National Health Service contract simply by applying for one. Presumably, he must be aware of the strictures that still apply regarding contract allocation but elects to ignore this.

As to the location of pharmacies “between the dairy and bakery sections”, if this allegation is supposed to be a metaphor for professional disregard he fails to make the point. Supermarket management teams invest considerable time and expertise in siting their pharmacies for the maximum benefit of both patient and customer with regard to access and the sensible juxtaposition of other related items such as health care products, vitamins and supplements, first aid, etc.

As to dispensing 400 items in a morning, Mr Rahman brandishes this figure as if it were typical of the workload endured or enjoyed by supermarket pharmacies (depending upon one's perspective).

There are, we know, pharmacies which do dispense 20,000 items per month or even more and, yes, I too have been appalled by the staffing levels that some duty pharmacists and staff have been forced to suffer but pejoratively to suggest that this an accurate representation of supermarket pharmacy is both specious and unfounded.

It is true that pharmacy managers in supermarkets are regularly regarded as department managers. Having worked as such for several years I fail to see anything sinister in this. Indeed it is the recognition that I receive as a senior member of the management team that enables me to ensure that my department is never compromised by the commercial imperatives that of necessity are applied to other departments. No, it is not perfect, but what is? The system I operate within assures that professional standards are recognised and adhered to. Yes, I do report my figures regularly to my store manager to keep him abreast of developments within my pharmacy unit. This is no different from branch pharmacies of other multiples reporting similarly to their senior management, as is the norm in any commercial organisation.

Pharmacy is our profession; it is also our living. I fail to see that operating our pharmacies efficiently and effectively is anything about which we should feel ashamed or embarrassed. Mr Rahman seems to think that optimising profit by careful selection of lines stocked is in some way reprehensible and indeed detrimental to patient and customer care. It is known as effective marketing and many an article upon its judicious application has been published in both The Journal, Chemist & Druggist and by the National Pharmaceutical Association. I do not recall Mr Rahman complaining about any of these. To have core stock, particularly for smaller independents with more restricted cash flow, is entirely sensible. It has never been suggested to me, as a “department” manager that I cannot or should not respond flexibly to customer demand. This is, as they say, all part of the service.

My own company is striving to invest ever more resource into technician and staff training with a view specifically to free more pharmacist time “to talk to and counsel patients”. The supermarket groups with their much greater financial back-up are probably, I would suggest, better placed to achieve this than many independents in the short term and so the truth of the matter is in fact the very antithesis of Mr Rahman's allegations.

I would suggest that the professional image of pharmacy demonstrated by many supermarkets, far from “eroding the profession”, has in many ways provided a lead which many high street independents would do well to emulate. How many of us have winced with shame at the tatty, cluttered and sometimes disgraceful conditions portrayed in the media when a reporter is sent out for a pharmaceutical sound bite, or undercover news-hound from Watchdog attempts to yet again to defame our profession and sometimes, it has to be said, with just cause?

As a profession we need to be ever vigilant. Not everything is perfect. That much is obvious. But please do not let Mr Rahman and his ilk get away with attempting to place all the ills of pharmacy in the lap of the supermarkets. It simply is not justified.

Christopher Mercer
Doncaster, South Yorkshire

Proper hours needed

From Mr A. Rahman, MRPharmS

If Graham Hanson's 11.5-hour shift seemed staggering (PJ, March 31, p422), certain in-store pharmacies run 14-hour shifts (8am to 10pm), especially for agency locums who wish to take up the challenge. Furthermore, there is no provision for a proper break of any form. And in many cases, locums are expected to travel vast distances to the store.

As a locum I have worked such shifts, and I know first-hand of the associated fatigue that sets in. Such work patterns will inevitably lead to an increase in potential fatigue-related errors in judgment and will subsequently prove hazardous to patients.

Locum pharmacists are not super-human and, like employee pharmacists, should be entitled to proper breaks and working conditions (ie, an 8.5-hour shift with an hour break for lunch and two 15-minute breaks).

A. Rahman
Brierley, West Midlands

Next Topic (Prescribing)
Send your letter to The Editor