MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Should Victor use his local pharmacist?

hulltrucker

I suffer from exactly thsi dilema - I have a local pharmacy and a Sainsburys both within a similar distance of where I live. I like to support the pharmacy as they are great for advice so what I do is get all of my prescriptions from the pharmacy (as I don't pay for them, but I assume they get money from the NHS for them) and use sainsburys for generic medicines like paracetamol

RedStar_3

Personally, I'd use the small local pharmacy and pay a bit more. Even if it was easy enough for me to get to the supermarket, I'd want the pharmacy to stay open for local people who might struggle to get all the way to the supermarket and have to use small local stores. Plus, pharmacists in local shops are the unsung heroes of our healthcare system. They can usually give excellent advice about minor ailments and recommend a course of action or appropriate treatment.

Similarly, I always buy fresh fish from the fishmonger's stall at my local food market, even though it's more expensive than the supermarket. The guys who run the stall really know their stuff, are passionate about what they do and can give all sorts of advice and recipe tips that you wouldn't get from some spotty youth working in Asda. Plus, they will source more unusual produce for you.

No doubt there are people reading this who are saving more money than me but I'd rather be a bit skint and support small local businesses when I can.

moneysaving_pharmacist

I am assuming the supermarket has a pharmacy on the premises. If it doesn't then definitely use the local pharmacy - you won't get any advice from the checkout girls. And just because a medicine can be purchased from a supermarket or wilkinsons doesn't mean it's 100% safe. Especially not for elderly patients on multiple medicines - these patients need expert advice.

Cost is not the only issue to consider here. The quality of advice should be the same from both pharmacists, however the local pharmacist obviously knows Victor well which is a great benefit. It is, however, difficult to give advice without knowing a person's full medication history. The independent pharmacy is obviously very quiet if it is threatened with closure. The pharmacist there would therefore have more time to spend speaking to Victor.

Independent pharmacies are more likely to offer services to help vulnerable people. Does the supermarket pharmacy offer, for example, a delivery service, a NOMAD/dosette box service, free emergency hormonal contraception or supervised methadone consumption? And what about those people who are less mobile and can't get to the supermarket pharmacy?

Pharmacies are often important social hubs for the whole community. The staff who work there often live in the area and know the patients well. A pharmacy closing can have the same social and economic effects as a post office closing.

A final point: my advice is free of charge and I am available without appointment. I do not mind giving advice to people who are not buying products or getting prescriptions dispensed. In fact I quite often refuse to sell products when it is not appropriate and send people off to their GPs. However, if you live locally and regularly seek advice but don't purchase anything or bring your prescriptions to me I will get a bit irritated.


Disclaimer: I work in a pharmacy that is part of an independent group (80 pharmacies). I have also worked for Boots. I know which one I prefer, and which one I consider lets me give the best service to my patients.

moneysaving_pharmacist

hulltrucker wrote: »

I suffer from exactly thsi dilema - I have a local pharmacy and a Sainsburys both within a similar distance of where I live. I like to support the pharmacy as they are great for advice so what I do is get all of my prescriptions from the pharmacy (as I don't pay for them, but I assume they get money from the NHS for them) and use sainsburys for generic medicines like paracetamol

Yes, pharmacies get paid by the NHS for dispensing NHS prescriptions. In simple terms, we get paid a set price for the drug (and if we can get from a wholesaler for less than the tariff price then great), and in addition we get paid fees that come to around £1 per drug (a dispensing fee, a DDA payment, a container fee and practice allowances). The average cost per drug on a prescription is around £10. The prescription charge of £6.85 bears no relation to the cost of the drug - it is the same whether you have a prescription for £1.50 worth of bendroflumethizide or for £1500 worth of Glivec. The charges collected are kept by the pharmacy, but they are deducted from the payment made by the NHS.

Although NHS prescriptions account for the vast majority of pharmacy turnover, the profit margins are higher on over the counter medicines - but is anyone surprised?

gibby

its a big question

our local chemists is part of a bigger chain so I see no difference to using it or the supermarket

we have found we can get nicer products at the supermarket
i.e. - medicines without artificial sweeteners, e numbers, gelatine & other nasties
but our local chemists had limited medicines that were unsuitable for vegetarians, vegans, buddhists, muslisms, hindus etc

Gibby

Liney_2

I think he should shop local if he likes it best, its nice for people to have someone to chat to and you tend to get to know local shopkeepers and staff I can honestly say I don't know anyone from the supermarket but since I tried not going so often I now know my local corner shop owner, deli owner, newsagent and milkman - much nicer for a community I think.

heather38

i work in a tesco pharmacy and have previously worked in an independant pharmacy. both have merits.
the independant was great for locality and also knowing patients and their medical history but it was very busy and often we didn't have time to chat to people for long plus we had fewer staff on duty per shift
the tesco pharmacy has more staff which means that we have more time to talk to patients and our store has built up a good reputation and i am on first name terms with many customers. but many people have the perception that it isn't a real chemist and that they are taking advice of a checkout girl even though i have done the same training (if not more) than the same person working in an independant pharmacy.
i would take prescriptions to a local chemist and buy medicine from the supermarket, then he has the best of both worlds.

Middlestitch

Buy some stuff from the local pharmacist (presumably they have other products for sale) if you want their advice!

fififofum

Personally I dont find this to be the case, my 3 local pharmacies compete with each other on price and always have a much larger stock of items than Sainsburys, who doesnt have a pharmacist. Support local businesses, when the Supermarkets have taken over there will be no going back - look at most large high streets now, they all look the same.

Dave_the_Ginger_Cat

I have received good advice from both local and supermarket based pharmacies - as many have mentioned the qualifications are the same.

The only differentiator I see is that for some drugs there is a difference between UK packaged drugs and say Greek or Spanish parallel imports. For epilepsy for example, there have been tests which show that the effects of the drugs do differ although there should be no reason why not. My husband has different side effects to the foreign ones.

My pharmacy (local) is prepared to source the UK based ones to ensure he does not suffer such effects which means I continue to support them.