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They do a job just like everyone else and that contributes to people's quality of life and the community. They have a role to play in health just like all other heathcare professionals.
It's a bad profession...well it depends where you work and your boss.
I've worked in a pharmacy for a while, even though I'm doing a PhD in Economics....it's just a bit of side income for me to invest with...and the conditions are bad.
We are overworked on very little pay and standing for 7-8 hours at a time, it's essentially working retail. This is no office job!!
Pay in pharmacies has gone down, locums are on around £19 an hour where I work, they used to be on £26 an hour in 2007/2008. Some places have gone down as low as £14 an hour, which is amazing.
Pharmacy is like a factory, you generate labels, pick medication and cut out tablets. There is very little brain involved, sure you might have to give the odd consultation to a patient, but they are maybe 1/2 an hour. The rest of the time you are working like a machine in a factory, just churning out more prescriptions to keep the sales up and the fat cats at the top happy. They ruined the profession.
You will also have to deal with date checking thousands of packets and shelving thousands of packets of medicine as well. It is a tiring job.
What annoys me is that these pharmacists are smart people who studied hard, but they rarely get to use their knowledge. It's like reading off a prescription and picking items. Even the computer system tells you of severe interactions, and the BNF tells you all the recommended doses....so with enough training anyone can do it. I know it sounds harsh, but it's the truth.
The pharmacist is there for a legal reason only, most people can do his job.
I've worked in a pharmacy for a while, even though I'm doing a PhD in Economics....it's just a bit of side income for me to invest with...and the conditions are bad.
We are overworked on very little pay and standing for 7-8 hours at a time, it's essentially working retail. This is no office job!!
Pay in pharmacies has gone down, locums are on around £19 an hour where I work, they used to be on £26 an hour in 2007/2008. Some places have gone down as low as £14 an hour, which is amazing.
Pharmacy is like a factory, you generate labels, pick medication and cut out tablets. There is very little brain involved, sure you might have to give the odd consultation to a patient, but they are maybe 1/2 an hour. The rest of the time you are working like a machine in a factory, just churning out more prescriptions to keep the sales up and the fat cats at the top happy. They ruined the profession.
You will also have to deal with date checking thousands of packets and shelving thousands of packets of medicine as well. It is a tiring job.
What annoys me is that these pharmacists are smart people who studied hard, but they rarely get to use their knowledge. It's like reading off a prescription and picking items. Even the computer system tells you of severe interactions, and the BNF tells you all the recommended doses....so with enough training anyone can do it. I know it sounds harsh, but it's the truth.
The pharmacist is there for a legal reason only, most people can do his job.
Original post by alleycat393
They do a job just like everyone else and that contributes to people's quality of life and the community. They have a role to play in health just like all other heathcare professionals.
I think it used to be like that...the pharmacy I work in just cares about numbers. Getting the MURs up or getting the number of prescriptions up so they can get more money from the NHS. There was an article in the BBC about excessive MURs (medicine use reviews) and I started laughing, cos our pharmacy does exactly that to generate cash from the NHS. I think they get £27 per review from the NHS
I always say, never try to make money off people's health, pharmacies pretend to be all honest but the end of the day most are run like any other business.
At least the bankers are honest in the fact they are in the city to make as much money as they can, the pharmacies pretend to care for patients but all they care about is their bottom line.
We are understaffed, overworked and then they wonder why mistakes happen. The people at the top need to have a serious look at themselves!
Original post by fg45344
I think it used to be like that...the pharmacy I work in just cares about numbers. Getting the MURs up or getting the number of prescriptions up so they can get more money from the NHS. There was an article in the BBC about excessive MURs (medicine use reviews) and I started laughing, cos our pharmacy does exactly that to generate cash from the NHS. I think they get £27 per review from the NHS
I always say, never try to make money off people's health, pharmacies pretend to be all honest but the end of the day most are run like any other business.
At least the bankers are honest in the fact they are in the city to make as much money as they can, the pharmacies pretend to care for patients but all they care about is their bottom line.
We are understaffed, overworked and then they wonder why mistakes happen. The people at the top need to have a serious look at themselves!
I always say, never try to make money off people's health, pharmacies pretend to be all honest but the end of the day most are run like any other business.
At least the bankers are honest in the fact they are in the city to make as much money as they can, the pharmacies pretend to care for patients but all they care about is their bottom line.
We are understaffed, overworked and then they wonder why mistakes happen. The people at the top need to have a serious look at themselves!
Sorry did you want a response from me?
Original post by alleycat393
Sorry did you want a response from me?
It's up to you.
Just telling my side of the story, I've been working in a pharmacy for 1.5 years now. The field has deteriorated, asking locums they all feel the same....too many pharmacist graduates have driven down the wage, while the workload has increased. The only people benefitting are the shareholders of Pfizer, GSK, Merck, Bayer, Novartis and the shareholders/owners of the pharmacies.
Though GSK has lost a lot of bottom line because of generics, so they are getting hit as well. Everyone is undercutting everyone.
Original post by fg45344
It's up to you.
Just telling my side of the story, I've been working in a pharmacy for 1.5 years now. The field has deteriorated, asking locums they all feel the same....too many pharmacist graduates have driven down the wage, while the workload has increased. The only people benefitting are the shareholders of Pfizer, GSK, Merck, Bayer, Novartis and the shareholders/owners of the pharmacies.
Though GSK has lost a lot of bottom line because of generics, so they are getting hit as well. Everyone is undercutting everyone.
Just telling my side of the story, I've been working in a pharmacy for 1.5 years now. The field has deteriorated, asking locums they all feel the same....too many pharmacist graduates have driven down the wage, while the workload has increased. The only people benefitting are the shareholders of Pfizer, GSK, Merck, Bayer, Novartis and the shareholders/owners of the pharmacies.
Though GSK has lost a lot of bottom line because of generics, so they are getting hit as well. Everyone is undercutting everyone.
I'm not the one asking the question so you may want to quote the OP instead. Good luck!
Original post by fg45344
It's a bad profession...well it depends where you work and your boss.
I've worked in a pharmacy for a while, even though I'm doing a PhD in Economics....it's just a bit of side income for me to invest with...and the conditions are bad.
We are overworked on very little pay and standing for 7-8 hours at a time, it's essentially working retail. This is no office job!!
Pay in pharmacies has gone down, locums are on around £19 an hour where I work, they used to be on £26 an hour in 2007/2008. Some places have gone down as low as £14 an hour, which is amazing.
Pharmacy is like a factory, you generate labels, pick medication and cut out tablets. There is very little brain involved, sure you might have to give the odd consultation to a patient, but they are maybe 1/2 an hour. The rest of the time you are working like a machine in a factory, just churning out more prescriptions to keep the sales up and the fat cats at the top happy. They ruined the profession.
You will also have to deal with date checking thousands of packets and shelving thousands of packets of medicine as well. It is a tiring job.
What annoys me is that these pharmacists are smart people who studied hard, but they rarely get to use their knowledge. It's like reading off a prescription and picking items. Even the computer system tells you of severe interactions, and the BNF tells you all the recommended doses....so with enough training anyone can do it. I know it sounds harsh, but it's the truth.
The pharmacist is there for a legal reason only, most people can do his job.
I've worked in a pharmacy for a while, even though I'm doing a PhD in Economics....it's just a bit of side income for me to invest with...and the conditions are bad.
We are overworked on very little pay and standing for 7-8 hours at a time, it's essentially working retail. This is no office job!!
Pay in pharmacies has gone down, locums are on around £19 an hour where I work, they used to be on £26 an hour in 2007/2008. Some places have gone down as low as £14 an hour, which is amazing.
Pharmacy is like a factory, you generate labels, pick medication and cut out tablets. There is very little brain involved, sure you might have to give the odd consultation to a patient, but they are maybe 1/2 an hour. The rest of the time you are working like a machine in a factory, just churning out more prescriptions to keep the sales up and the fat cats at the top happy. They ruined the profession.
You will also have to deal with date checking thousands of packets and shelving thousands of packets of medicine as well. It is a tiring job.
What annoys me is that these pharmacists are smart people who studied hard, but they rarely get to use their knowledge. It's like reading off a prescription and picking items. Even the computer system tells you of severe interactions, and the BNF tells you all the recommended doses....so with enough training anyone can do it. I know it sounds harsh, but it's the truth.
The pharmacist is there for a legal reason only, most people can do his job.
An me... Who was thinking of being a pharmacist
Thanks
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I work in a village pharmacy as a medicine counter assistant, and the pharmacist there has lots of consultations with customers who need help. He doesn't do date checking because that role is for the dispensers. He does have to work very hard and long hours 9-6, where he's constantly checking prescriptions and putting items into bags, but he's very highly regarded in our village.
Original post by celiajacobs
I work in a village pharmacy as a medicine counter assistant, and the pharmacist there has lots of consultations with customers who need help. He doesn't do date checking because that role is for the dispensers. He does have to work very hard and long hours 9-6, where he's constantly checking prescriptions and putting items into bags, but he's very highly regarded in our village.
Date checking is horrible when you have to man the counters and date check and dispense! In our pharmacy, 2 people work at a time, where in reality we should have 3 or 4. When it gets busy, we cant run the place...we have to tell people 25-35 minute waiting times.
It doesn't have to be this way, but the people at the top want more money so oh well.
Original post by mediaya
If you can find a quiet pharmacy it's better, but pharmacy is equivalent to working in retail having to use your brain 1 or 2 times every hour.
Original post by fg45344
Date checking is horrible when you have to man the counters and date check and dispense! In our pharmacy, 2 people work at a time, where in reality we should have 3 or 4. When it gets busy, we cant run the place...we have to tell people 25-35 minute waiting times.
It doesn't have to be this way, but the people at the top want more money so oh well.
It doesn't have to be this way, but the people at the top want more money so oh well.
Oh really! That sounds like a lot to take on, I can barely cope with 2 of us on the counter (the other person has only worked there for 2 months) haha! We then also have one dispenser and the pharmacist. It does get very stressful and sometimes the pharmacist takes it out on us when we have to signpost a patient to him.
My head of year told me when I was having a bad time at work that she worked in 2 different pharmacies when she was my age and hated them both - guess it's just the environment!Original post by fg45344
If you can find a quiet pharmacy it's better, but pharmacy is equivalent to working in retail having to use your brain 1 or 2 times every hour.
What do u mean by quiet pharmacy? What types of pharmacy are there?
Original post by celiajacobs
Oh really! That sounds like a lot to take on, I can barely cope with 2 of us on the counter (the other person has only worked there for 2 months) haha! We then also have one dispenser and the pharmacist. It does get very stressful and sometimes the pharmacist takes it out on us when we have to signpost a patient to him. My head of year told me when I was having a bad time at work that she worked in 2 different pharmacies when she was my age and hated them both - guess it's just the environment!
My head of year told me when I was having a bad time at work that she worked in 2 different pharmacies when she was my age and hated them both - guess it's just the environment!Yeah you have to be fast to work in a Pharmacy. We use Nexphase as our dispensing system and I have this rule that I need to be able to generate prescription labels in 30 seconds. So 30 seconds per prescription during busy times is an absolute maximum amount of time I should be taking. Using past history and short codes means it can be done.
Yeah I hate my job, but it's money and money I can invest. I study economics at PhD level, I want to work for 8 hours a week....only retail will give you that.
I've been understaffed to the point I was considering closing the pharmacy for 30 minutes because we had 8 people outside, delivery filling the inside worktop, 5 prescriptions inside to do, PCS to do, date checking...what a joke!
Original post by mediaya
What do u mean by quiet pharmacy? What types of pharmacy are there?
1) Community Pharmacy- boots, asda, lloyds
2) Hospital Pharmacy
Hospital is slightly better but it's still hard work, you are on your feet the whole day running around wards! Yes I have worked in both, I wanted to be a doctor before but now I deal with the stock market (PhD economics im doing right now)
Community has really gone downhill, unless you can find a well run local pharmacy. Independent pharmacies are worse cos its their cash that goes into the business.
Original post by fg45344
Yeah you have to be fast to work in a Pharmacy. We use Nexphase as our dispensing system and I have this rule that I need to be able to generate prescription labels in 30 seconds. So 30 seconds per prescription during busy times is an absolute maximum amount of time I should be taking. Using past history and short codes means it can be done.
Yeah I hate my job, but it's money and money I can invest. I study economics at PhD level, I want to work for 8 hours a week....only retail will give you that.
I've been understaffed to the point I was considering closing the pharmacy for 30 minutes because we had 8 people outside, delivery filling the inside worktop, 5 prescriptions inside to do, PCS to do, date checking...what a joke!
Yeah I hate my job, but it's money and money I can invest. I study economics at PhD level, I want to work for 8 hours a week....only retail will give you that.
I've been understaffed to the point I was considering closing the pharmacy for 30 minutes because we had 8 people outside, delivery filling the inside worktop, 5 prescriptions inside to do, PCS to do, date checking...what a joke!
Wow that sounds like awful!
Wait.... Are u not a pharmacist? U just working part time in a pharmacy?
Original post by mediaya
Wow that sounds like awful!
Wait.... Are u not a pharmacist? U just working part time in a pharmacy?
Wait.... Are u not a pharmacist? U just working part time in a pharmacy?
I am a PhD economics student....I work in a pharmacy for 8 hours a week as some side income. When you are doing a PhD you can't work 20 hours a week (well you can), but you will be really tired as you have a lot of work to do. First year PhDs have exams which I had.
But working in a pharmacy for 1.5 years means I know how it runs. I've also learnt a lot about pharmacy and in particular which pharmaceutical companies are doing well so I can buy shares in them.
Original post by fg45344
1) Community Pharmacy- boots, asda, lloyds
2) Hospital Pharmacy
Hospital is slightly better but it's still hard work, you are on your feet the whole day running around wards! Yes I have worked in both, I wanted to be a doctor before but now I deal with the stock market (PhD economics im doing right now)
Community has really gone downhill, unless you can find a well run local pharmacy. Independent pharmacies are worse cos its their cash that goes into the business.
2) Hospital Pharmacy
Hospital is slightly better but it's still hard work, you are on your feet the whole day running around wards! Yes I have worked in both, I wanted to be a doctor before but now I deal with the stock market (PhD economics im doing right now)
Community has really gone downhill, unless you can find a well run local pharmacy. Independent pharmacies are worse cos its their cash that goes into the business.
Thanks
Which has a better pay?
Original post by fg45344
I am a PhD economics student....I work in a pharmacy for 8 hours a week as some side income. When you are doing a PhD you can't work 20 hours a week (well you can), but you will be really tired as you have a lot of work to do. First year PhDs have exams which I had.
But working in a pharmacy for 1.5 years means I know how it runs. I've also learnt a lot about pharmacy and in particular which pharmaceutical companies are doing well so I can buy shares in them.
But working in a pharmacy for 1.5 years means I know how it runs. I've also learnt a lot about pharmacy and in particular which pharmaceutical companies are doing well so I can buy shares in them.
Wow that sounds stressful... I mean for you! Did u not need any pharmacy degree to work in there tho?
Original post by mediaya
Thanks
Which has a better pay?
Which has a better pay?
Community is higher pay but more work. If you are in a busy pharmacy, with incompetent staff and bastard customers, you will feel you have entered the threshold of hell. I go there for the money, I have no shame in admitting it. I do my day's work and then get on with my real life for the week.
The only benefit I have got from pharmacy is appreciating what hard work is, I've had times after a 9 hour shift where I physically can't stand anymore. I just drive home and take an ibuprofen and go to sleep. The legs take a day to recover. If you work on a regular basis, your leg muscles will develop. Coming back to do a 9 hour shift after a month off means your legs break after the 9 hours. Yes, we don't get proper breaks as well!
But the key is to take rest after standing for 6/7 hours at a time, if you don't you will damage your leg muscles.
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