Poor Pharmacist Career Prospects? What do Universities tell you?

Original post by Izzy2016

Locum Pharmacist rates here in the North East of England are currently £20-£25/hour standard rate, emergency rates (same day booking) are between £25-£50/hour. Enjoy your shite rates down 'souf', and keep complaining about how Pharmacy is going down 'souf'.

That's because no-one wants to live and work there perhaps?! And no need to be rude, dear!
Are you even qualified yet??!

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 282

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4569450

Some chains paying locums as little as £11 an hour ! Is this a joke???? or true?

Anyone who wants to do a hard 5yr degree for that needs a shrink!!

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 283

Original post by crazy.chemist

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4569450&p=70311766&page=2#post70311766

Some chains paying locums as little as £11 an hour ! Is this a joke???? or true?

Anyone who wants to do a hard 5yr degree for that needs a shrink!!

Supply and Demand.

The market is over saturated with pharmacists, a lot of them people who wanted to do medicine. Every university in the country (nearly) now offers Pharmacy. You are churning out tons of pharmacy graduates into a system which is shutting down pharmacies.

So this is just the beginning my friend, I say it gets worse over the next 3-4 years when the real cuts on the NHS funding come in. I see the average locum rate dropping to £17 an hour, an extreme rates going from £11 an hour to £22 an hour.

Reply 284

Original post by xx_holly_xx

Supply and Demand.

The market is over saturated with pharmacists, a lot of them people who wanted to do medicine. Every university in the country (nearly) now offers Pharmacy. You are churning out tons of pharmacy graduates into a system which is shutting down pharmacies.

So this is just the beginning my friend, I say it gets worse over the next 3-4 years when the real cuts on the NHS funding come in. I see the average locum rate dropping to £17 an hour, an extreme rates going from £11 an hour to £22 an hour.

How long have you been a pharmacist, if you are one???

Reply 285

Original post by crazy.chemist

How long have you been a pharmacist, if you are one???

I'm a PhD student in finance.

I've worked in a pharmacy for one day a week for two years as a dispenser (for some extra pocket money). Two years ago, pharmacy was bad. It's got even worse now, given the NHS will cut the money it subsidises to pharmacies.

Reply 286

wow! you're lucky that you just passing thru!!! I can't believe there are so many kids on here, so mad to want to do it!!! after all the posts about how awful it is! Not the degree, thats fine, but the job at the end! I won't call it a career, cos it aint! its slave labour !! (and £50k f'ing debt too !!!! )

Reply 287

Original post by crazy.chemist

wow! you're lucky that you just passing thru!!! I can't believe there are so many kids on here, so mad to want to do it!!! after all the posts about how awful it is! Not the degree, thats fine, but the job at the end! I won't call it a career, cos it aint! its slave labour !! (and £50k f'ing debt too !!!! )

I realised something was wrong with pharmacy when the dispenser turnover rate was so high. This in particular is true for ASDA. We usually have one dispenser and one pharmacist at a time, who is expected to man the till, date check, label prescriptions, check prescriptions and get medicine off the shelf. Now when it is busy you can get queues of people forming, due to us being short staffed. There should be 3 people there as a minimum but to save fuccing £8 an hour, they keep less staff than is required.

It almost feels like a gym session, it can be relentless as times. When you are with lazy pharmacists it's even worse, as you have to do their work as well. We have one pharmacist who is an absolute prick, if he sees a customer and/or is outside with a customer, he will drag you out from inside to serve the customer. Even if you are busy doing something else. Like serve the damn customer yourself.

But I'm quitting in March, so yay.

Edit: I forgot, we have to do trays as well.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 288

Me and all my m8s is looking for new jobs and careers. We all hates it !! And not even done a full year yet!! Lolz !

Reply 289

Trinculo

Not saying it's the case for everyone, but I suspect a lot of people are influenced by parents and family members who are living a few generations in the past and think that what was a good career 20-30 years ago is a good career choice now. They also bear absolutely no consequence for their influence.

Reply 290

Original post by Trinculo

Not saying it's the case for everyone, but I suspect a lot of people are influenced by parents and family members who are living a few generations in the past and think that what was a good career 20-30 years ago is a good career choice now. They also bear absolutely no consequence for their influence.

Funny thing is, 20 years ago takes you back to 1997 and it was a pretty damn good career then. I have a cousin who graduated as a pharmacist in 1997 and she would earn £25 to £30 an hour back in 1997, now you are lucky to get £19 an hour (after 20 years of inflation).

Hours were shorter and workload was less as well. Now it's all about fuccing money. Do more MURs! Do more prescriptions! etc etc

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 291

Original post by xx_holly_xx

Funny thing is, 20 years ago takes you back to 1997 and it was a pretty damn good career then. I have a cousin who graduated as a pharmacist in 1997 and she would earn £25 to £30 an hour back in 1997, now you are lucky to get £19 an hour (after 20 years of inflation).

Hours were shorted and workload was less as well. Now it's all about fuccing money. Do more MURs! Do more prescriptions! etc etc

Exactly! Teenagers in nowadays are so thick that they cannot even be bothered to research the degree they want to do properly before committing. All they need to do is speak to a a few local independent pharmacists as to whether they would recommend the job and not surprisingly 95% wouldnt!

Unis and School career centres are running a scam by sending kids and some of whom are not made for uni by selling them lies that a degree is an answer to all their problems. Esp pharmacy schools; who are a bunch of criminals which have been ruining the lives of many graduates with their lies.

This profession is DEAD and i implore any sixth form student reading this to STAY AWAY and do another course! If you are a medicine applicant; resit/take a gap year/reapply/Go europe whatever it takes to get into medicine, if not then medicine or science isnt the end all in this world. Law, finance, business, accounting are all decent professions that can give you a better quality of life than stupid pharmacy!!

Ok rant over- peace out

Reply 292

Original post by sachinisgod

Exactly! Teenagers in nowadays are so thick that they cannot even be bothered to research the degree they want to do properly before committing. All they need to do is speak to a a few local independent pharmacists as to whether they would recommend the job and not surprisingly 95% wouldnt!

Unis and School career centres are running a scam by sending kids and some of whom are not made for uni by selling them lies that a degree is an answer to all their problems. Esp pharmacy schools; who are a bunch of criminals which have been ruining the lives of many graduates with their lies.

This profession is DEAD and i implore any sixth form student reading this to STAY AWAY and do another course! If you are a medicine applicant; resit/take a gap year/reapply/Go europe whatever it takes to get into medicine, if not then medicine or science isnt the end all in this world. Law, finance, business, accounting are all decent professions that can give you a better quality of life than stupid pharmacy!!

Ok rant over- peace out

Do you study pharmacy? Are you a pharmacist?

Reply 293

Original post by xx_holly_xx

Do you study pharmacy? Are you a pharmacist?

Yes I am a final year student but I have got into a graduate scheme in the Big 4 so leaving pharmacy for good,

Reply 294

Original post by sachinisgod

Yes I am a final year student but I have got into a graduate scheme in the Big 4 so leaving pharmacy for good,

Where did you study Pharmacy if I may ask?

Reply 295

Original post by xx_holly_xx

Where did you study Pharmacy if I may ask?

id like to keep myself anonymous if thats ok :smile:

Reply 296

Original post by sachinisgod

id like to keep myself anonymous if thats ok :smile:

Sure, no problem.

So why did you decide to study pharmacy?

Reply 297

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by sachinisgod

Exactly! Teenagers in nowadays are so thick that they cannot even be bothered to research the degree they want to do properly before committing. All they need to do is speak to a a few local independent pharmacists as to whether they would recommend the job and not surprisingly 95% wouldnt!

Unis and School career centres are running a scam by sending kids and some of whom are not made for uni by selling them lies that a degree is an answer to all their problems. Esp pharmacy schools; who are a bunch of criminals which have been ruining the lives of many graduates with their lies.

This profession is DEAD and i implore any sixth form student reading this to STAY AWAY and do another course! If you are a medicine applicant; resit/take a gap year/reapply/Go europe whatever it takes to get into medicine, if not then medicine or science isnt the end all in this world. Law, finance, business, accounting are all decent professions that can give you a better quality of life than stupid pharmacy!!

Ok rant over- peace out

TOTALLY agree with you on all of it !! I've worked my hourly rate to be about £13 an hr! A guy I worked with a few months ago told me he was earning that in 1996!! I was so mis-informed by everyone, parents, teachers, pharmacy schools ! They all seem to still think it is 1996 in pharmacy, at least !!!!!

Reply 298

quasa

20

Original post by Izzy2016

Locum Pharmacist rates here in the North East of England are currently £20-£25/hour standard rate, emergency rates (same day booking) are between £25-£50/hour. Enjoy your shite rates down 'souf', and keep complaining about how Pharmacy is going down 'souf'.

depends where down south you are tbh. I get £20-27 for locum work in bedfordshire and milton keynes BUT there is too much competition therefore you dont get that much work (a lot of my friends have had to move south west, up north or to wales to get decent money)

Reply 299