Boots store closes due to no pharmacist

sheilavw

Our Boots was once closed Saturday morning for exactly the same reason. I think that they should put notice up but still open for sales of everything else

fluffnutter

I do think it's a bit odd. My local Boots doesn't dispense between the hours of 1 and 2pm because this is when the pharmacist takes her lunchbreak. I'm not sure why some think it's reason to close - mine certainly doesn't. Perhaps the other staff get fed up saying 'sorry, you'll have to wait for your prescription/super-strength haemorrhoid cream - the pharmacist's not here'.

guspoppy

my local independant pharmacy closes when there is no pharmacist on the premises and they also sell non pharmacy items. They also say they cant open due to no pharmasict on the premisis.
i will still go there.
i find boots very good , their own brand products and their customer servicing.
Dont get me wrong , I understand that the Op is annoyed but maybe in other pharmacy that was open when there was no pharmacist on the shopfloor is because they are having their break in the canteen. They can still open if they are in the canteen , just if they leave the store they cant be open.

chocolate.buttons

brettcta wrote: »

their raison d'être is as a pharmacy.

Boots is registered as a pharmacy retailer (although I know that comparatively more non-pharmacy products are stocked than pharmacy ones!) which also affects other licences that the store has - for example, when selling alcohol gifts at christmas, there are strict rules about which tills are allowed to be used. Selling alcohol from a healthcare till would be seen as somewhat a conflict of interest...

When I have been working, we have been delayed in opening whilst waiting for a pharmacist to arrive, the managers do say we are not legally allowed to open without them, so up until Oliver14 pointed it out, I also thought it was the law!! Maybe it is just Boots taking an overly safe view of the current law and adopting it as company policy...?
We do stay open throughout the pharmacists lunch hour but she eats her lunch on the premises so technically she is still there and could be called down if necessary.

podwin wrote: »

They probably use it as an excuse to have a cup of tea and toast.

In some ways, you don't know how right you are! Once, when a pharmacist was not expected for the forseeable future, the area manager wanted us all to take our breaks there and then at 9am, so that we could work through the rest of the day.

I do understand the OP's frustration though - hope you have managed to find a suitable replacement gift.

soothyerboots

giraffe69 wrote: »

You can criticise them. It might be their duty to get up to date. It might also be the duty of the company to circulate this information to those who communicate with the public. Most functions in Boots are little to do with being a Pharmacy these days and it all sounds like the weakest reason for not opening one can imagine.

UTTER TOSH. If you are 100% sure you know something, and have never been told or seen otherwise, why would you go about trying to get "up to date" on that information? There would be no reason to!

So no, you can't criticise them.

Azari

fluffnutter wrote: »

I wanted to go to Waterstones the other day. They were shut due to their fire alarm having been triggered. I threw myself upon the pavement and sobbed. How dare they?! They said they had my book in stock! I'll never, ever trust them again.

Oh, poor fluffnutter.

That must have been so traumatic for you.

Have some chocolate and, to show solidarity, I promise I'll never use Waterstones again.

Azari

Last year our Boots was shut until gone eleven because there was no pharmacist.

Yet it remains open between 1:00 and 2:00 when the pharmacy is closed because ... there is no pharmacist.

giraffe69

UTTER TOSH.

No it isn't. If a firm gives out information then it has a responsibility to give out accurate information and if necessary train and inform those who are giving this info. out. If you are off for the day/week/month and new information is provided then you have a duty, if you are a decent employee, to find out the right information to give.

mrsRG

OK Here Goes......

A registered pharmacy cannot legally operate without a 'Responsible Pharmacist' on duty. A Pharmacist has to arrive, sign into a responsible pharmacist log book and display a certificate. Without this happening nothing can be sold not even something like a bottle of shampoo.

During a day the responsible pharmacist can be absent from the premises for a total of 2 hours during which time certain things cannot be sold (pharmacy medicines from behind the counter) and prescriptions cannot be handed out. However the pharmacy can remain open and sell other items and take in prescriptions to be filled once the pharmacist has returned.

Do people really think Boots would lose out on money by shutting pharmacies for no reason?
I think it is only fair that if you are not in the trade that you do your research properly for the facts before bad mouthing companies.

It is no excuse that the staff that day were ignoring you. They should have been at the doors explaining the situation properly.

Rebecca, Pharmacist

brettcta

well in

gdgdb