Is it just Boots or there's no hope for pharmacists?!

[Meave]

Hi everyone, please see if you can give me some advice:

I'm a pre-reg in Boots expecting to be qualified in July...have a two-year contract with Boots as they do recently to keep you after qualification and have to pay them 5k if want to leave. Needless to say how I've suffered every single day of my pre-reg but it's nearly done, ...now my problem is their offer for when I qualify is absolutely awful including intensive weekend, and midnight shifts , long unpaid journeies from home,etc,...leaving me no life whatsoever!.... Negotiation was useless and I consider leaving them but am concerned about the money I have to pay and don't really know if the other companies are any different. I even considered doing the exam in September to have some time off after finishing pre-reg and decide what to do then, but doesn't seem the right thing to do either.....wonder if there is anybody here experienced the same situation or can advise me in any way.

[johnep]

I was a Boots boy, working Saturdays from age 16, then Sats and Vacs all through Uni. rejoined in 2000 as a pt pharmcist at a large branch in Central Milton Keynes covering for day off, worked Wed,Wed,Saturday and every other Sunday. Must say I enjoyed it, was was treated well.

Naturally, they are going to use you as a relief to start, to give a broad experience. If you have transport then should be no problem, they pay mileage. If not, buy a s/h car or scooter, I had a Lambretta.

Just sounds as if you are in a 'bad area'. Decide where you would like to work and offer to move. East Anglia and South West are short of pharmacists.

Personally, in your position, I would want to work in a city centre branch with two or three pharmacists as we had in CMK. You could then work shifts to accomodate your desire for a social life. Why not come to Cambridge or some other university city. All the life you could desire.

Pharmacy is not a sinecure 9-5 job. Let us know what your particular problems are and we can try to help.
johnep

[Rafael]

Just sounds as if you are in a 'bad area'. Decide where you would like to work and offer to move. East Anglia and South West are short of pharmacists.

Lincolnshire was short of pharmacists as well, i accepted my pre-reg offer there keeping in mind that i will be able to negotiate a high starting salary once i qualify (if i take on a pharmacy run by locums).
two days ago i went to the small town in the north of lincolnshire to sort out my accommodation and popped into the pharmacy for a quick chat with my tutor. luckly he was free for a 10 mins quick chat, and when i told him that the area manager recommended two tutors in the whole area of lincolnshire he just laughed and commented ' it looks like our European colleagues are occupying all the posts in the county', he also made it clear to me that he does not think there is a shortage of pharmacists anymore in this area ( p.s my intention is to show how things changed within 1 year, and not to diss our EU graduates).

on another subject, the pharmacy took on 2 care homes. Now they dispense 11000 items/month (from 8000 couple of months ago when i accepted my offer). the pharmacy is run by one pharmacist only and a total of 6 dispensers/counter assistants. nevertheless, i am quit impressed with my tutor, i saw him counselling patients properly, and he just started doing some PCT work 1 day/week and will be taking me with him to the PCT when he is on duty. currently he is involved in switching elderly patients from NSAIDs to paracetamol. he is what you can call a young, active and enthusiastic pharmacist, plus he graduated from my uni 4 years ago.

i am looking forward for my pre-reg year, but that fact that the script numbers increased to 11000/year is a bit worrying.

[Fleegle]

Hey Raoul..

Good post. Did a breakdown, and hopefully it won't look so bad. Assuming 5 staff members capable of completing scripts (pharmacist, pre-reg and 3 dispensers) 11,000 items per month is 2,200 items each. If everyone present 20 days per month, then around 110 items each per day.
Assuming 8 hour shift only, then 14 items per hour worked, dedicated to dispensing. 14 items can usually be run off and out the door in 10-15 minutes max.

I know checking etc. takes time, but it sure looks pretty do-able to me! Would also free up time for MURs, counselling et. al.

Best of luck..

Fleeg.

[Rafael]

Cheers Fleg, yeah it should be do-able, i am not the 1st one to do his pre-reg in a busy pharmacy.
i have a lot to learn, and i believe dispensing is a tiny bit of the whole learning process (MURs, BP+ Cholesterol + Diabetes testing, asthmatic review, ethicals decisions, law related issues, exam past papers and the rest of the daily requirement of the job).

P.S Elaine, make sure to locum at the branch while i am there, you have been to the branch (i believe). ***edited so all the weird and wonderful denizens of the net can't try to use your place of work to pester you via email, phone and fax****keep it to a pm ,Raoul matey!***

[Zoggite]

Meave,
First of all, a huge welcome!
Secondly: which part of the country are you looking for?
Thirdly: It isn't completely impossible that some other company like a small multiple, might be prepared to "help" with the £5k repayment to Boots if you decided to relocate and coomit to working for that small multiple... If you don't ask, you won't get, and all they can say is "no", nothing ventured- nothing gained?

And finally: No, it's not just Boots, Lloyds & the other big grocers aren't great either, but there is still some hope out there!

[Fleegle]

Hey Ray..

Point taken, but that tiny bit is what so-far brings in the cash. Ignore it at your peril.

Fleg

[Rafael]

have a two-year contract with Boots as they do recently to keep you after qualification and have to pay them 5k if want to leave.

They only do that if they recruite you on their 2nd pre-reg intake session. some of my mates signed a 1 year contract and some signed 2 year contract.

Needless to say how I've suffered every single day of my pre-reg but it's nearly done, ...now my problem is their offer for when I qualify is absolutely awful including intensive weekend, and midnight shifts , long unpaid journeies from home,etc,...leaving me no life whatsoever!

from what i understand, you have to work with them for 1 yeart once qualified, however they can not restrict you to 1 offer. please clarify this, are they forcing you to accept this offer or can you ask to do some relief in different branches? btw how much are they offering you (PM me if you do not want to state the wage on the forum).

Negotiation was useless and I consider leaving them but am concerned about the money I have to pay and don't really know if the other companies are any different.

Take a loan, pay the 5K, leave them, and locum on saturdays as well. problem solved! would be way easier if your parents can loan you the 5K, but don't make the idea of taking a loan put you off.

I even considered doing the exam in September to have some time off after finishing pre-reg and decide what to do then, but doesn't seem the right thing to do either.....wonder if there is anybody here experienced the same situation or can advise me in any way

not a good idea at all! sit for the exam in july, and locum for 2 months to pay back the 5K money borrowed, ditch Boots, then carry on locuming or look for a post at an independent pharmacy starting from september.

Good luck

[Rafael]

Hey Ray..

Point taken, but that tiny bit is what so-far brings in the cash. Ignore it at your peril.

Fleg

yeah i agree, i just meant that it is a tiny bit of what i want to achieve during my pre-reg year. however if i am a pharmacy owner, my opinion will differ re dispensing.

[ramroum]

LLoyds ask the EU pharmacists to sign similar contracts when they bring them to the UK to work for them. They are forced to work for about 2 years in the busiest worst branches at which local pharmacists would not like to work.

Contact the PDA for an advice.