We Know You're Frustrated – But We're On Your Side

By the time you arrive at the pharmacy, it might already have been a very long day.

You might have woken up feeling unwell.

You may have spent days trying to get an appointment. You might have sat in a waiting room longer than expected, struggled to get through on the phone or finally spoken to a healthcare professional only to leave without quite getting the answer you hoped for.

Then comes the prescription.

You arrive at the pharmacy hoping this will be the easy bit.

Hand over the prescription. Pick up the medicine. Go home.

And then we say:

“It's going to be around 20 minutes.”

Or perhaps even worse:

“I'm sorry, we haven't got that medicine in stock.”

We understand why that's frustrating.

Pharmacy is often the last stop in a frustrating journey

Something we think is important to recognise is that community pharmacy is often the final part of a much longer patient journey.

By the time we meet you, you might be tired, worried, in pain, feeling unwell or simply fed up.

And sometimes we're the people who have to deliver the final piece of bad news.

Your prescription hasn't reached us yet.

The medicine is unavailable.

The dosage on the prescription needs checking.

Something has been prescribed that we can't safely dispense without clarification.

We need to contact the surgery.

Or there's simply a queue of prescriptions ahead of yours.

We didn't necessarily create the problem, but we're often the people standing in front of you when you discover it.

And that's why we want to say something very simple:

We're on your side.

Why can't you just give me my prescription?

From the other side of the counter, dispensing a prescription can sometimes look remarkably simple.

Find a box. Put a label on it. Hand it over.

But there's considerably more happening behind the scenes.

Every prescription needs to be processed correctly and appropriate clinical and accuracy checks need to take place. Our teams also deal with prescription queries, dosage problems, medicine interactions, stock shortages and communication with GP practices and other healthcare professionals.

At the same time, the phone may be ringing, another patient may need urgent advice, someone may be waiting for a consultation and another patient may have just arrived with a completely different problem.

The pharmacy team isn't trying to make you wait.

We're trying to make sure we get it right.

And when we're dealing with medicines, getting it right matters.

Sometimes the problem is outside our control

Medicine shortages have become an everyday challenge for community pharmacies.

Sometimes a medicine simply isn't available from our suppliers.

We don't like telling patients this any more than patients like hearing it.

Our teams can spend considerable amounts of time checking different suppliers, investigating alternatives, contacting GP surgeries and trying to find a solution.

There can also be problems with prescriptions.

A prescription might contain an incorrect dose, the wrong quantity or something that needs clarification before it can safely be supplied.

When that happens, our pharmacist has a professional responsibility to investigate.

So when we say:

“I'm sorry, I need to speak to the doctor about this first.”

We're not putting an unnecessary obstacle in your way.

We're looking after you.

We understand frustration

This is perhaps the most important part of this message.

You are allowed to be frustrated.

If you're in pain and your medicine isn't available, that's frustrating.

If you've already waited an hour at the surgery and then discover there's another wait at the pharmacy, that's frustrating.

If something has gone wrong with your prescription, that's frustrating.

Tell us you're frustrated.

Ask us what's happening.

Ask what your options are.

Our teams will do everything reasonably possible to help.

But there is a difference between being frustrated and being abusive.

Shouting, swearing, threatening, intimidating or personally attacking the person trying to help won't solve the problem.

In fact, it can make resolving the situation harder.

Respect can actually help us help you

A calm conversation allows us to concentrate on finding a solution.

Rather than spending time managing a confrontation, we can spend that time checking stock, contacting another healthcare professional, investigating the prescription or explaining the options available to you.

And there's another important consideration.

Pharmacy is a safety-critical environment.

The people working behind the counter aren't simply serving customers. They're handling medicines, checking doses and making decisions that can directly affect people's health.

They need to be able to concentrate.

A safe, respectful pharmacy environment isn't therefore just better for our staff.

It's better for our patients too.

There's a person behind the counter

We also want people to remember something that's very easy to forget during a stressful day.

We're human too.

The person standing behind the pharmacy counter is someone's mum, dad, son, daughter, partner, friend or colleague.

They have good days and difficult days just like everyone else.

Our teams work incredibly hard to look after their communities, and many of the problems they encounter are problems they're desperately trying to solve rather than problems they've created.

Sometimes they'll manage to find that box of medicine that's difficult to source.

Sometimes they'll spend 20 minutes on the phone sorting out a prescription.

Sometimes they'll stay beyond their normal working hours because someone needs help.

And occasionally, despite doing everything possible, the answer will still be:

“I'm really sorry, but we can't get this today.”

That isn't because we don't care.

Sometimes there simply isn't another answer.

Respect works both ways

Of course, respect isn't something we expect only from our patients.

Our patients should expect exactly the same from us.

You should expect to be listened to.

You should expect your concerns to be taken seriously.

You should expect things to be explained clearly.

And you should expect to be treated with dignity, patience and respect by our pharmacy teams.

That's the relationship we want with every person who walks through our doors.

We're on the same side

Community pharmacy is changing.

We're doing more than ever before — providing clinical services, offering healthcare advice, treating certain conditions, supporting people with their medicines and helping relieve pressure elsewhere in the NHS.

But at the heart of everything we do are people.

Patients and pharmacy teams.

So if you've had a difficult morning, waited weeks for an appointment, sat in a waiting room, received news you didn't want to hear and then discovered there's another wait when you reach the pharmacy...

We understand.

Tell us what's happened.

Talk to us.

Give us the opportunity to help.

Because the person standing behind that counter isn't your opponent.

They're very often the person trying to solve the final problem in a journey that started long before you reached the pharmacy.

A little patience, understanding and respect can make that journey better for everyone.

We're on the same side.