A regrettable parting of the ways

[otherclive]

I like to support local businesses and since we arrived here in spring 2019 we’ve used a local pharmacy adjacent to the health Center. But for some months the level of service has been poor. I only take meds for DVT and a couple to limit my daily step count. I order on line from the health Center and give 10 days prior to collection. The pharmacy had recently been taken over by another national chain.

Today I spent 30 minutes in a queue averaging 10-14 people. There was no counter service for those wanting to just buy something. So all and sundry had to queue. When I asked for my prescription I was told it would be 20 minutes being prepared. Then when I got it some items were missing. So I have to go back after the weekend to collect them. The assistant told me that to reduce wastage all prescriptions are made when someone calls to collect.

I had been considering using another pharmacy but they are a drive away, and I prefer to walk for things if I can. The present one is only a two mile round trip which I would often extend to 4 miles.

So on being given the meds I went in to the health Center and arranged to have my meds supplied from a new “delivery only” pharmacy that is 400m from the house. I order on line from the health Center and they forward the prescription to the new pharmacy. Behind me in the health Center was the lady who was next to me in the pharmacy queue and she was doing the same as me. Two lost customers and I wouldn’t go to the pharmacy for any over the counter products until they up their game and provide counter service when required.

 

[Hutch]

We had exactly the same two years ago, local pharmacy had been great, large group took over and the Pharmacist left and so did the staff.
I tried "Boots" but it took almost a week plus to get any medication. We have settled on the Local Tesco Pharmacy, we didn't go to a delivery service as the lorry for the wife's medication could not turn around in the Cul de Sac.

 

[Buckman]

I guess we are lucky as we get our meds from our surgery. Order Online about a week before and they are ready for collection. Sometimes they act human and make a mistake, but easily rectified.

 

[Hutch]

I guess we are lucky as we get our meds from our surgery. Order Online about a week before and they are ready for collection. Sometimes they act human and make a mistake, but easily rectified.

Our surgery has a pharmacy, but we live just outside of its working area by 200 yards. (1/2 mile radius) I suppose there has to be a cut off somewhere.

 

[Buckman]

Our surgery has a pharmacy, but we live just outside of its working area by 200 yards. (1/2 mile radius) I suppose there has to be a cut off somewhere.

Our surgery also offers a delivery service once a month, but we have never used it as we always collect as it is in Grt Witley which is on the way to do our shopping in Stourport. We are about 4.5 miles away from the surgery.

 

[Jcloughie]

Pharmacies seem to be closing down all over the place. They seem to be short staffed and overworked, (though they do appear to be lacking in organisation imho). To expect a pharmasist to have time to give advice is cloud cuckoo land, yet they are supposed to be lightening the load on GP’s.

Possibly down to underfunding. Dare I say.

My local pharmasist delivers. I take advantage of this, saves waiting. But I wonder what would happen with drugs if there was no one in. I cant see them leaving it in the recycling bin.

John

 

[otherclive]

Pharmacies seem to be closing down all over the place. They seem to be short staffed and overworked, (though they do appear to be lacking in organisation imho). To expect a pharmasist to have time to give advice is cloud cuckoo land, yet they are supposed to be lightening the load on GP’s.

Possibly down to underfunding. Dare I say.

My local pharmasist delivers. I take advantage of this, saves waiting. But I wonder what would happen with drugs if there was no one in. I cant see them leaving it in the recycling bin.

John

The local online/delivery pharmacy I’ve now signed up with will only deliver if someone is in to receive the meds. A sensible safety approach. If no one is in they will leave a card and I can ring to rearrange the delivery. My BIL had a similar system using Boots in Coventry which worked very well, albeit not free.

 

[Jcloughie]

The local online/delivery pharmacy I’ve now signed up with will only deliver if someone is in to receive the meds. A sensible safety approach. If no one is in they will leave a card and I can ring to rearrange the delivery. My BIL had a similar system using Boots in Coventry which worked very well, albeit not free.

So far I have always been in. But I have wondered what might happen. Pretty useless for working families. I imagine they will leave a note for me to collect.

Then I can queue!

John

 

[Jaydug]

Using online pharmacies with a delivery service is all very well, but eventually, when enough people have joined in, local pharmacies will gradually disappear from the high street. Remember all the motor parts shops that were around a few years ago? They've all gone - replaced by online dealers. Fortunately, I have a good pharmacist who receives my prescription electronically from my surgery within 24 hours. It's usually awaiting collection when I go in. And if I ever get dissatisfied with their performance, there's another pharmacy just four or five shops away from him - which probably keeps him on his toes.

 

[Buckman]

Using online pharmacies with a delivery service is all very well, but eventually, when enough people have joined in, local pharmacies will gradually disappear from the high street. Remember all the motor parts shops that were around a few years ago? They've all gone - replaced by online dealers. Fortunately, I have a good pharmacist who receives my prescription electronically from my surgery within 24 hours. It's usually awaiting collection when I go in. And if I ever get dissatisfied with their performance, there's another pharmacy just four or five shops away from him - which probably keeps him on his toes.

I doubt very much if pharmacies will disappear from the High Street, but the High Street as we know it will disappear. In our local town both Boots, Lloyds and Superdrug have gone. The only pharmacy left is now located in a suburb. Their prices for non prescription items is eye watering. For example , the local Tesco a mile away, sell the same cough mixture for £3 less! Cheaper to catch the bus into the town!

 

[Beachball]

Our doctor surgery has a pharmacy when i order once a month for my meds they deliver to my home address so very happy with there service .

 

[Dustydog]

Meds are ordered on line with Surgery two weeks before due date. Boots locally send a text when meds ready for collection. Like the rest of you there are a few issues.

The shop manager is the only person serving customers. Sometimes the queue is 10 deep. The poor lass is exhausted at the end of the day.

The dispensing pharmacist changes daily!

Some meds are dispensed locally , some come from Boots new drug factory in Nottingham I believe, blue plastic packaging , local brown paper bags.

Overall the service is good , but the pressure on the staff is almost Dickensian

 

[Buckman]

When we used to collect prescriptions from Boots, if you arrived at lunch time, you had to wait until the pharmacist returned from lunch as other staff were not allowed to hand over the prescription which was already made up.

 

[Dustydog]

When we used to collect prescriptions from Boots, if you arrived at lunch time, you had to wait until the pharmacist returned from lunch as other staff were not allowed to hand over the prescription which was already made up.

Our local Boots was the same until two years ago. The manager who is the sole customer facing member of staff is now a qualified dispensing technician allowing her to dish out the goods without a pharmacist present! There’s progress and no AI🙃

 

[RogerL]

Our local pharmacy is part of a small chain in mid-Wales and the Midlands - our prescription repeats go there electronically and usually can be collected 48 hours later, all ready made up - but like all chemists they suffer with "out of stock" in the supply chain which can take months to resolve so we try to keep a good stock, particularly of my wife's eye medication as that seems most troublesome.

We have a big Boots on the big out-of-town shopping area but it's the other side of town so we only use it for their 3-for-2 supplements offer - there does seem to be a campaign by NHS and the GPs to stop prescribing medication which is also available without prescription - in our case Vitamin D3 and Paracetamol.

 

[otherclive]

Our local pharmacy is part of a small chain in mid-Wales and the Midlands - our prescription repeats go there electronically and usually can be collected 48 hours later, all ready made up - but like all chemists they suffer with "out of stock" in the supply chain which can take months to resolve so we try to keep a good stock, particularly of my wife's eye medication as that seems most troublesome.

We have a big Boots on the big out-of-town shopping area but it's the other side of town so we only use it for their 3-for-2 supplements offer - there does seem to be a campaign by NHS and the GPs to stop prescribing medication which is also available without prescription - in our case Vitamin D3 and Paracetamol.

Cutting back on items that can be purchased without a prescription has been going on for sometime. I can obtain hearing aid batteries via the NHS but the price on line is cheap as chips so I buy them myself. I’m only too pleased to have a set of NHS aids that in fact are better than my previous private ones.

 

[Buckman]

Cutting back on items that can be purchased without a prescription has been going on for sometime. I can obtain hearing aid batteries via the NHS but the price on line is cheap as chips so I buy them myself. I’m only too pleased to have a set of NHS aids that in fact are better than my previous private ones.

Talking about cutting back I used to get tablets for my arthritis from a well known brand. A couple years later it changed to a different manufacturer of unknown origins, but the new batch of tablets made me feel nauseous all the time and affected my general well being. Eventually I managed to get them to supply the branded tablets and no more issues.

We have noticed the change of brands on a few occasions and I guess that it is all part of the cost cutting exercise. Some work okay and others not so good.

 

[woodsieboy]

It's not just pharmacies, locally our main Post Office has gone, it's now in W H Smiths, and always short staffed, seems it is the modern way of doing things,I have a theory that the rot set in when shops diversified, at one time Boots was a Chemist, Smiths was a Bookshop,Supermarkets sold groceries, now it's clothes, phones, opticians and .........pharmacies!

 

[Dustydog]

Talking about cutting back I used to get tablets for my arthritis from a well known brand. A couple years later it changed to a different manufacturer of unknown origins, but the new batch of tablets made me feel nauseous all the time and affected my general well being. Eventually I managed to get them to supply the branded tablets and no more issues.

We have noticed the change of brands on a few occasions and I guess that it is all part of the cost cutting exercise. Some work okay and others not so good.

I take a statin Rosuvastatin. Four years ago NHS ,NICE, changed it to Atorvastatin allegedly 10x cheaper. Left me with a headache and aching muscles. GP immediately put me back on Rosuvastatin, all good.
I‘m all for saving NHS money but sadly when I see the wastage it does make you wonder why achievable savings aren’t being pursued elsewhere rather than on people’s medication😥

 

[Jcloughie]

Cutting back on items that can be purchased without a prescription has been going on for sometime. I can obtain hearing aid batteries via the NHS but the price on line is cheap as chips so I buy them myself. I’m only too pleased to have a set of NHS aids that in fact are better than my previous private ones.

Our GP surgery is a collection place for hearing aid batteries, my wife went for hers and took her book to be stamped. The receptionist said that in her opinion, the only people who want them are those that need them, I don’t bother with the book or with rationing. And gave her a big boxes.

I am not convinced her hearing aid, (just one), is doing a great job. I suggest to her we should get private ones, expensive yes, but in my opinion, if it improves quality of life, then worth it. But she wont hear of it. (sorry about the poor pun).

John

 

[Raywood]

The only pharmacy within easy walking distance of our house is a Boots. To be fair they are generally very good and helpful, although could not manage a simple prescription last time as the computer was down. They seem to be unable to do anything when that happens.

 

[otherclive]

It's not just pharmacies, locally our main Post Office has gone, it's now in W H Smiths, and always short staffed, seems it is the modern way of doing things,I have a theory that the rot set in when shops diversified, at one time Boots was a Chemist, Smiths was a Bookshop,Supermarkets sold groceries, now it's clothes, phones, opticians and .........pharmacies!

Our Sainsbury's have closed the internal Lloyds, and a Lloyds pharmacy has also recently closed. That puts more pressure on the remaining pharmacies in the area. But I still have two car motor factors within easy walking distance, plus my main dealership too.

 

[otherclive]

Our GP surgery is a collection place for hearing aid batteries, my wife went for hers and took her book to be stamped. The receptionist said that in her opinion, the only people who want them are those that need them, I don’t bother with the book or with rationing. And gave her a big boxes.

I am not convinced her hearing aid, (just one), is doing a great job. I suggest to her we should get private ones, expensive yes, but in my opinion, if it improves quality of life, then worth it. But she wont hear of it. (sorry about the poor pun).

John

I found the reverse in that my most recent BTE aids from the NHS were better than the private ones in both hearing quality and features.

BTE is an acronym for Behind The Ear

 

[Sam Vimes]

Since we've wandered into Hearing Aids I have to say my latest NHS Bluetooth Hearing Aids are wonderful. Having mobile phone calls come through them is a bonus . Streaming music works but isn't as good as a decent set of headphones..

But one of the biggest features I like is the ability to setup different profiles for different occasions. So for example I have one called Coffee Shop for when we go to such places. It's set to cut out background noise and boost conversations.

My wife has them as well but hardly uses them much to my annoyance as I have to say many things twice. Apparently when I can't hear her its because I'm deaf. When she can't hear me its because I mumble. When I don't see the biscuit crumbs its because of my poor eyesite.

I can however play a mean pinball

 

[Buckman]

Since we've wandered into Hearing Aids I have to say my latest NHS Bluetooth Hearing Aids are wonderful. Having mobile phone calls come through them is a bonus . Streaming music works but isn't as good as a decent set of headphones..

But one of the biggest features I like is the ability to setup different profiles for different occasions. So for example I have one called Coffee Shop for when we go to such places. It's set to cut out background noise and boost conversations.

My wife has them as well but hardly uses them much to my annoyance as I have to say many things twice. Apparently when I can't hear her its because I'm deaf. When she can't hear me its because I mumble. When I don't see the biscuit crumbs its because of my poor eyesite.

I can however play a mean pinball

My biggest issue with NHS hearing aids which are several or more years old, is background noise which makes it difficult to understand people talking and they are in front of you. Seems our wives are related?

Yep in my youth pin ball machines took skill unlike these digital things now. I can recall the "tilt" coming up more than once. Hardly ever see a proper pin ball machine these days.