Secrets in the Pharmacy

So it's official, I hate my job.

I am over worked, under appreciated, under trained, unbelievably stressed that it's making me ill. Bullied by a co-worker that needs to retire, failing to meet unrealistic targets, not listened to by managers. I could go on.

I work for a company that boasts it had a turnover of 1.8 billion pounds in recent years. It employs over 15,000 staff and is one of the leading pharmacy retailers. It praises itself on being committed to healthcare and its loyal customers.

What they fail to tell you is that, all they do care about is numbers. That's all it boils down to.

They don't care if a store has been broken into and robbed. They don't care if a store has flooded, or is falling apart, making it unsafe for staff to be there. All they want to know is—how soon you can be open!

I am merely a sales assistant with training in the healthcare sector. I was supposed to be trained in work a long time ago. You need to have extremely thick skin to work in a pharmacy. Every single day something happens, whether I get verbally abused, put in an awkward position with addicts or even get a reprimanded for not doing something right. For a long time after I started, I am ashamed to say that I cried everyday upon leaving work. Now I am like stone, hard and very unsympathetic.

Let's get things straight and lay down a few ground rules...

1. Be nice to the pharmacy staff—it's not their fault you have been waiting in the G.P's surgery for over an hour. Then being told you have to wait 15 minutes more for your urgently needed olive oil ear drops. It's not as straightforward as people think. No, it's not just pulled off a shelf and chucked into a bag then given to you. Also if you wanted to leave quicker, then just buy the olive oil ear drops and save the NHS a few quid.
2. Hand in your prescription then go for a look around other shops—do not give in your script then continue to stand there staring at staff for the next 15 minutes. It's creepy and we hate it.
3. Stop lingering in front of me at the counter—yes I know your waiting, but huffing & puffing at me will not make the pharmacist go any quicker. In fact they will probable take longer, just to piss you off.
4. If you threaten to use another pharmacy next time, then please for the love of god use a different one. Staff will probably take a disliking to you if you keep threatening to do it and then keep returning to us.
5. Stop complaining when the pharmacist goes to lunch. They are not magical creatures. They are human beings who need to eat like you or me. Don't be rude to them for 30 minutes to sit down and eat. If you complain, then your prescription will probably take longer, or you will be told we don't have something in stock just to annoy you that little bit more.

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C x