Where do I start? phew.
It all started March 2020 yet January 2021 feels like it has been the busiest month for us for as long as we can remember. More and more patients are requesting deliveries due to shielding, or the fact that Boots pharmacy is now charging for deliveries.
We are seeing increasing out of stocks appearing on medicine stock lines when ordering, causing greater delays in then trying to either find a suitable alternative/ equivalent medicine that we can recommend to the GP. Restrictions in place to no more than 2 customers in the shop at anyone time is creating queues outside the pharmacy and increased pressure on the counter staff. We've had to recruit 2 extra part time delivery drivers to try and meet the increased demand for deliveries. Long hours and weekends, 7 days a week with a reduced staff morale (due to separating shift patterns to create bubbles so staff don't cross over incase of a positive covid result). Staff having to covid test themselves twice a week, and continuous cleaning of the shop environment after every customer visit takes it toll both physically and mentally.....Yet....the silver lining has to be there.
The smile... the simple nod of appreciation...... the thank you phone call to express gratitude to the team for going above and beyond and the lovely comments online make everything above seem so insignificant.
In closing, having such lovely patients as yourselves makes it all worth while.
Remember...Keep warm and get the kettle on :)
