We all know that not all locum pharmacists are the same. There are some absolutely fantastic locums out there and some who are, to put it nicely, conservative with their effort! Why then do some locum coordinators treat them all the same?
I think the answer lies in the plans they are given. They usually have a plan (paper or computer based) with “gaps” in pharmacist resource they need to cover. The see pharmacists simply as a means to fill the gap and in that context, they are right. All pharmacists, whatever their experience, work ethic or cost achieve the same outcome – a filled gap. My argument has always been that not all locum pharmacists are the same in terms of value for money.
At PL-UK we are very proud of our locums we work with and we feel that in many cases they are superior to the locums supplied by other agencies. We simply won’t use locums who regularly cancel bookings due to sickness, unreliable cars etc as to us, this is indicative of a locum with low levels of professionalism. Everyone can be sick every once in a while but every Monday!!! However we will use locum pharmacists who provide an excellent level of service from the time they arrive at a pharmacy.
Featured Locums is our answer to the lack of differentiation between locums. Our featured locums have all worked through PL-UK for some time and have excellent feedback from previous pharmacies they have worked for. They have shown a level of professionalism we are happy to actively promote and tend to be the locums who’s diary we fill first.
So don’t just book a locum…book a PL-UK featured locum!
Channel 4 and five regularly seem to have programmes about cowboy builders fleecing customers with exorbitant fees and shoddy workmanship. Unfortunately we have a few cowboy operators masquerading as locum agencies in pharmacy.
At last count their were about 70 so called agencies. The range from the huge multinational organisations to the one man band but only about 10-15 could be classed as proper agencies. One particular operator caused major problems across the UK especially around the fallow year in 2000. Last minute cancellations, double bookings and an amazing number of car break-downs were trademarks of this organisations. I won’t name them but for those of you who aware around then, it isn’t difficult to guess who it might be.
Unfortunately some of the same practices seem to be creeping back with a number of “new” agencies. What they do is they tell the pharmacy operator that they have a locum to cover their gap. They also tell their locum that they have work but they don’t confirm to either the names of the locum or the branches. So Saturday comes around, the pharmacy operator think they have a locum to cover their Sunday opening branch but no-one has been asked to fill the gap. The agency are frantically trying to find a locum to fill it because, in reality, they never had anyone. In most cases none of this is confirmed in writing – easy to blame the pharmacy operator that way.
The result of this way of operating are:
In my view this has never been taken seriously enough by the profession. The people operating this cowboy operations are usually RPSGB registered pharmacists. So why don’t the authorities take action against them when their unprofessional ism causes severe problems for pharmacies and can stop patients obtaining their medication?
Do we need a system of licensing agencies? Probably, but this would fly in the face of government policy which doesn’t require employment agencies to be licensed in any sector.
So how do you sort the wheat from the chaff as a locum pharmacist:
Change is always a bit of a concern especially when there is so much uncertainty about how the change might impact you. The introduction of the concept of a Responsible Pharmacist is such a change.
Is it something to be worried about? Is it just formalising what has always happened in the past? Not sure to be honest. We have all worked in branches with more than one pharmacist where one takes the “senior” role. In many cases when a locum is working with an employee pharmacist, the employee takes the senior role. However what happens in a pharmacy post October 2009 when two locums work together in a pharmacy? Who takes the RP responsibility? If one locum becomes the RP are they remunerated more for the additional responsibility?
The other issue is around record keeping. Either an electronic or written needs to be kept to confirm who the was on a given day and entries made when the RP leaves the premises. How will a locum who works across many pharmacies and companies keep track of where and when they were the RP?
My third and major concern surrounds the ability of an RP to be absent from the premises for up to two hours a day. I have no problem with this happening if a second pharmacist is on duty. However are we saying that for 25% of the day a responsible pharmacist is not needed? When does 25% become 50% and so on.
I can remember a number of occasions when I really needed to leave the premises for acute professional reasons. On one occasion I had a patient who was obviously in the last few hours of life after a long fight with lung cancer. She was going through Oxygen at an alarming rate and our delivery driver was off for the afternoon. I had to explain to waiting customers that they would have to wait until I returned. The ability to keep running while I was out in these circumstances would have been helpful.
My concern is that this 2 hour break could be abused by unscrupulous pharmacy operators. Four lots of two hours covers a pharmacy for the day. So could you operate five pharmacists with four pharmacists? Hopefully this could not happen but recent experience has taught me that some pharmacy operators seem to see pharmacists as a necessary evil at the moment and especially locums. The credit crunch has caused this in some instances and exacerbated it in others.
My own personal view is that a one hours gap would have been more appropriate but it’s too late to change that now. Second best is that all absences of the RP should be documented and reasons given so that the absences can be audited at a later date by the PCT or RPSGB. There should also be “specific regulatory guidance” in place to clarify what is an acceptable reason for leaving the premisis. Lunch, absultely – no more sandwiches sat on a kick-stool at the back of the dispensary and also fine for home visits. However I don’t think it’s acceptable for an RP to leave their pharmacy to visit a second pharmacy they may have line-management respeonsibility for or to meet their area manager. In my view written guidance and auditable documentation are key to safeguarding both the profession and the public.
Shaun Hockey B Pharm(Hons) MRPharmS
Managing Director PL-UK Recruitment Ltd
Enough snow fell in Britain on 2nd February for everyone in the country to make a quarter of a million snowballs each, according to maths whizz Carol Vorderman.
At last the RPSGB have realised that pharmacists are under increasing stress at work. As with the proverbial ostrich, the society have had their heads in the sand about this for years but should be applauded for doing something about it, at last.
Your Society Update February 2009
http://www.rpsgb.org/pdfs/YourSociety0902.pdf
The cynic in me (and there is a large cynical element to my character) might say that there is a direct link to the fact that we will soon have a choice about whether we want to join the society, or whatever it will be called in future, and the fact that they are addressing very real concerns for pharmacists at last. Whatever the motivation behind the move, it is most welcome.
Putting my cynisism aside, I think that something needs to be done quickly to address the issue. The credit crunch has put increasing financial pressure on most businesses and in particular the larger businesses. They seem to doing everything they can to cut costs including running what are usually two pharmacist branches on one pharmacist which means that the pharmacists on duty is under enormous pressure. This isn’t fair on the staff in the branch or the customers who have to wait for ages for their medication. Most of all it isn’t fair on the poor pharmacists who is left to cope with the massive workload while all the time being scared of making a mistake which could potentially ruin their career.
Employee pharmacists feel obliged to work in these conditions as they are paid a wage at the end of the month and their immediate line manegers are being pressurised to reduce costs by non-pharmacists further up the food chain. In many cases these line managers know what pressure the pharmacists are under because they have been there themselves in the past. Locums are increasingly shunning particular branches where they know workloads are increasingly challenging.
This can’t be good and I feel the time has come for a fundamental change in the relationship between the professional pharmacists and the business of pharmacy
I’ve long advocated a completed different model for pharmacy based on the the way GP’s operate in the UK. Some of you might not know that most GP’s are self-employed. They sign contract for services with their PCT which confirms the services the PCT expect the GP to undertake and the rewards on offer for providing these services. However it allows GP’s greater personal control and professional detachment from the PCT, allowing them to practice their profession as they see fit. This stops political pressure cascading down through PCT’s from affecting the way GP’s practice medicine. For political pressure read political and business pressure and you have the current pharmacy situation.
Something has to change and soon.
The ongoing Responsible Pharmacist Consultation is an ideal opportunity for pharmacists to have their say in the future of pharmacy. I’d urge you all to contribute to the consultation.
Responsible Pharmacist Consultation
http://www.rpsgb.org/protectingthepublic/ethics/#rp
Shaun Hockey B Pharm(Hons) MRPharmS
Managing Director PL-UK
Agency Workers Regulations – how does it effect me?
The simple answer is it doesn’t. …. in most cases. For more expert guidance than I can supply as a pharmacist rather than a legal bod please click on the link below. http://www.pcg.org.uk/cms/documents/01109%20PCG%20A4%2020PP%20BROCHURE%20SINGLE%20PAGES.pdf
One in a lifetime opportunity – pharmacist required in Tonga
We have been approached by a not for profit pharmacy in the Kingdom of Tonga asking us to recruit a pharmacist to work at one of the health centres in the Kingdom. This opportunity will definately not come up again for if you fancy a complete change of scene and an opportunity to live on [...]
Just a quick post to remind all pharmacist that they need to renew their GPhC registration by the 31st October. So you still have a month to pay but if you are anything like me, if you don’t do it now, there’s a chance you’ll forget!
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