Dont you just hate it when customers cannot wait for their medicines to be dispensed? They are told “it will be 5-10 minutes or so” and ive had people say…”what that long?” Obviously i don’t mean a one item prescription will take 10 minutes but you know the type im talking about. The 5 scripts, 6 item per prescription with dressings one.
I don’t think im a “slow pharmacist” but when it’s just you in the dispensary, answering the telephone, labelling, dispensing and checking, things are obviously delayed.
I think it’s the culture and norm these days to expect everything at a “fast food” level. Things are needed yesterday. But where is the patience with our customers?
I for one will not rush a prescription for anybody. More haste, less speed….if i make a mistake, it will take longer to rectify and worse still cause harm to the individual.
So is there and average time to dispense an item? ( see poll below). I’m guessing approx 2 minutes per item. what are your thoughts?
i’m pharmacist to be, just in year 1 now… looking 4 ur guidance n inspiration through ur articles n writings
Absolutely agree that haste should never be a priority over safety. Customers can occasionally be impatient (we must have all lovely ones) but communication about what is happening can help to defuse any tension. Also a great support team for the pharmacist and these days an accredited checking technician is a Godsend! We have also invested here in a dispensing robot which allows dispensing of say an antibiotic in seconds- but still that pharmaceutical assessment is needed and not always appreciated by the general public who perhaps still perceive our job as just “filling” a prescription. If they only knew that we are 50% liable for any errors there might be a different view.
Always gets me quite uptight when they say: ‘Please be quick, I’ve parked on a double yellow line’, but yes the more hectic it becomes, the more we have to slow down, and check everything.