Lack of Staff

[uglybuginn]

hello,
Yes you are quite right, the money should have been better but at the time i was too stupid to act. Plus when i first started at the shop it was only 5000 items a month with dispensing help, so the money seemed fair. Couldnt threaten to leave because of pension and share scheme. However in the end due to family problems i asked for a transfer to a different area, same company, earning quite a bit more doing just 4000 items. It lead me to believe that they got away with it. With regards to staffing level, the declaration to ppa came into force recently, but not at the time i was there, so it would not come to light then. In any case, all the while i was able to cope nothing was going to be done, even though i was on the course of self-destruction. In fact i wouldnt be able to do dispense, check 8000 items single handedly now, not quite sure how the hell i ever managed that.
I didnt mind the fact that the locum employed after i had left was paid at £25/hour. That's what being a locum is all about. What i am gutted about is that
the new manager being recruited to replace me had been offered around 8k more than i got, plus extra staff given to him too. so at this moment i wonder if i could raise a grievance with the company concerned

[Zoggite]

My gut feeling is that you're going to have to put this one down to experience, especially if you are currently still working for the same company; starting a grievance complaint could make life a tad uncomfortable.
The only possible angle to attack might be down the lines of "constructive dismissal", if the company had so grossly overburdened and underpaid you that you felt you had no choice but to leave, but you'd need a bl***y good lawyer to argue that one for you...
I'm glad to hear that you are no longer being exploited like before!

[admin]

Does the new NHS contract not include a clause about adequate staffing levels, which is why we have to declare how many weekly hours' dispensing staff on the FP34 (or WP34 in my case)? I don't have a drugs tariff at hand at the moment, but I seem to remember that you need at least 1.5 full-time equivalents' staff (including Phcist) if you do more than 4000 items/month, 2 FTE's for more than 6000 items/mont etc...? It does sound like you were getting a rough deal though- £15.75/hour is roughly £33k/year for a 40-hour week, which I wouldn't touch with a bargepole, not even as second phcist...
I'm sure you can sell yourself better!

Whenever I have negotiated myself a job, I just act like I'm in an Egyptian market. They start low, so I start high and so on. When it gets to what I want I accept. I have never taken the salary offered to me.

I was offered a job this year, for 38k for a four day week. Thats the sort of amount you should be aiming for.

[Rafael]

in the drug tarrif ,under " payment for essential services"
from 1 oct 2005, inorder to receive full prctice payments for contractors, a claim form for the relevant month minimum dispensing staff levels should be submitted as following
# of items/month minimum DISPENSING staff level" notice the DISPENSING word"
2000-3500 40 hours/week
3500- 5000 56
5000-6500 75
6500-8000 94
8000-9500 112
9500- 10999 131
>11000 150

i.e dispensing staff includes a PHARMACIST, pre-reg trainee" half the working hours are counted", and assistent dispenser i.e DIFFERENT THAN COUNTER ASSISTENTS

pharmacy contractors will be required to emply a staff member for an extra 19 hours for each additional 1500 items dispensed once the 110000 level is reached.

for example, if a pharmacy dispenses 7000 items/ month, " which means they should emply a minimum 94 hours DISPENSING STAFF"including the pharmacist( pharmacist for 40 + pre-reg accounts for 20 hours even that he is working for 40 hours, other dispensers accounting for remained 34 hours weekly " i.e 2 dispensers working half a day weekly". this is all inorder to receive the FULL PRACTICE FEEs. lets say the pharmacy who dispensed 7000 items as in this example hired staff worth of 70 hours not 94 weekly, then they will receive practice payment based on 5000 items.

conclusion there is no actual law to protect minimum staff present as simply for multiples cutting staff hours weekly, with same level of dispensed items monthly, would benefit them more than the 400 pounds difference they receive for practice payments ( 7000 items x 34.5 p is around 2200 pounds/ month, hence they will be getting 5000X34.5 = 1700 pounds for practice payments oer month but they have managed to save 25 hour weekly = 100 hour monthly = around 700 pounds monthly)

yes THEY THINK ABOUT IT THIS WAY. remmember for a big multiple this means they have to pay less 300 pounds/month/shop, if they do it for lets say 300 shops of the 2000+ they have, this mean around 1 million pound saving by following these simple calculation. oh let's remmember that they do not even pay anything for the 40 weekly hours pre-reg student work as the government give them 16000 pounds....... so in reality cutting staff and replacing them with pre-reg students would save the big multiples MILLIONS of pounds

i hope my figures make sense, as i believe i have to clalrify it in a better way

[SolomonQ]

all this is good about the minimum staffing levels but how does anyone check if a pharmacy is keeping to these rules?

[Sir_Dispensalot]

they don't really stick to these as they aren't rules more like guidelines. I've frequently done days in the past when you churn out 500 items with 1 dispenser and no counter assistant - sometimes it just all goes wrong at once with illness and holidays.
At the moment i'm doing a lot of late shifts at work solo (thankfully quiet shifts) because of illness, hols and mat leave. Don't you just love summer?!

Sir_Dispensalonealot

[SolomonQ]

exactly, and who's left to suffer?

[Sir_Dispensalot]

exactly, and who's left to suffer?

mostly my patients and sometimes the cat when i get home

[Lazy Nite]

Hahaha...u make me laugh.

[laurabuk]

I feel sorry for the cat!!!