ACTs

[roxidog]

Suki
Thank you for the feedback of course I have worked in community and appreciate the issues that are faced are different, I also spent time working for PCT's doing some prescribing advice etc. I wouldn't presume to comment on issues I didn't unsderstand.

[Suki Lalla]

Suki
Thank you for the feedback of course I have worked in community and appreciate the issues that are faced are different, I also spent time working for PCT's doing some prescribing advice etc. I wouldn't presume to comment on issues I didn't unsderstand.

Roxi,

Can you elaborate on what issues you found when working in community pharmacy which are relevant to this debate about the role of technicians and ACT's.

Most of us on this board want to engage with any interested party to improve the patient experience.

Share your experiences with us (where in community ? how long ? multiple / independent ? and when .. recently or many years ago etc ) and lets start again from there.

I am also intrigued about the prescribing advice ... did you do further clinical training (i.e. after your technician training) before you undertook this work ?

[Dorothy Drury]

What I am learning from this interchange is that there is a big difference between dispensers who only do one year part times study to pharmacy technicians who do two years part times study. But there is little difference between pharmacists who do 5 years full time study and pharmacy technicians who do two year part time training. When I first qualified the pharmacy technicians did 3 years part time and completed the Apothecary Hall certificate which I felt was far superior to either the Business and Technology certificate or the NVQ that we have now. All pharmacists also do extended training and specialised courses. Therefore, our training has gone up one year full time and the pharmacy technicians has been shortened. I worked with two support staff members to-day who do agree with this and highlighted one of the problems. Support staff in community are not given time for training and courses and this is wrong. But in hospital support staff are given study days and time off so they don't have to use up their own time. We must put pressure on, to give all staff time for training as it is compulsory.

[Century]

... to improve the patient experience.

FFS!!
Patient experience!!

You've outed yourself - only corporates use this terminology

[Suki Lalla]

... to improve the patient experience.

FFS!!
Patient experience!!

You've outed yourself - only corporates use this terminology

Nice to have someone on a forum who hangs on my every written word .. haven't had that happening for a long time .. very flattering

Still awaiting a reply from Roxidog

[cartrefeira]

Sorry ... total BS ..

I guess it's got something in common with much of what you post then.

"feedback" on said locum to some corporate oink who may not book locum again

Feedback from the regular staff is important, particularly when it comes to the sort of locum who spends all day on their mobile. There are plenty of good locums out there. Some are excellent. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of bad locums.

Bobbin does it not strike you that there may be the possibilities of deficiences in your organisation if you need feedback from the 'regular' ancillary staff, who very likely have agendas of their own which have nothing to do with the health of your business.

Let me give you an example from my own experience, stressing that I have heard endless similar stories from other locums.

I arrived one morning, after an hour's drive and in response to an urgent request the night before, at a 10,000 item a month pharmacy to find the dispensary littered with incomplete baskets and only one dispenser present instead of the establishment of three. The counter staff consisted of two young girls, two other staff being away for holidays or days off, and the Supervisor was off work suffering from 'stress'. So we had a staff of three plus a pharmacist, when we should have had eight, plus a pharmacist.

The one dispenser made it plain that she did not intend to do more than produce labels and consume tea and biscuits -- I made it plain that would not be sufficient (I was 71 at the time) and ensured that she pulled her fair share of the work. She definitely earned her money that day, as did I. We cleared all the dispensary baskets, did our 500 items for the day and got two delivery vans away.

The dispenser reported to the (unqualified) area manager that I was slow and unco-operative and despite strong representations from my agency said AM gave instructions that I was not to be booked again.

[Dorothy Drury]

But you wouldn't want to go back there again, and you could tell all your mates to not go there either!

[bobbin]

Bobbin does it not strike you that there may be the possibilities of deficiences in your organisation if you need feedback from the 'regular' ancillary staff, who very likely have agendas of their own which have nothing to do with the health of your business.

So are you saying that feedback from trusted, regular staff members is of no value? What other suggestions do you have?

Of course, certain dispensers have their own agenda, but so do many locums.

[cartrefeira]

It's a problem, Bobbin.

What I used to do was keep in constant contact with both my managers as a band of brothers, all working together but I know this probably wouldn't work on a larger scale.

IMHO it's one of the biggest problems in community pharmacy today, completely unnoticed by all the official bodies, but exercising much thought in the inner councils of larger firms.