'Forgotten heroes' of NHS in Harrogate district's fears and challenges

The member of staff, who wishes to remain anonymous, has reached out over concerns on the impact of the virus lockdown on staff working in chemists in the Harrogate district.

The health care professional said more still had to be done to support the 'forgotten heroes' whose work load had simply exploded since the health crisis began.

The pharmacist said: "Life in a community pharmacy is very challenging at the moment. Indeed, in all of my many years working, I've never seen anything like it.

"The daily number of prescriptions we're getting from GPs has more or less doubled since the beginning of last week."

One of the other main issues posing a challenge is the health risks to community pharmacists when serving the public in close quarters in small chemists and shops or large supermarkets.

As a result, local pharmacies were now sometimes having to meet bigger demands with smaller teams as a result of staff members going into isolation themselves or a family member displaying symptoms of Covid-19.

The pharmacist said: "Many pharmacies are relatively small areas and it can be difficult to achieve the two metres "social distancing" rule if there are any more than two customers plus staff in at any one time."

Although not directly employed by the local primary care trust, community pharmacists' role of preparing and dispensing prescription medicine means they work closely with the NHS.

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An NHS spokesperson for the North East and Yorkshire said that NHS England and NHS Improvement was committed to exercising its responsibilities as the commissioner of pharmaceutical services and understood that at this time pharmacy staff may need to make difficult decisions to do their best for patients and the public.

The NHS spokesperson said:“We absolutely recognise the challenges experienced by colleagues on the frontline, including community pharmacies, who continue to deliver key services for their local communities, including dispensing of vital medication.

“We will continue to provide regular guidance as the situation evolves and want to thank all NHS staff who continue to pull out all the stops for patients and the public at this time.”

Having felt left in the shadows in the nation's praise for the work of NHS staff, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a point in a video update of the Government's work on the COVID-19 pandemic of singling out the "wonderful" pharmacy profession.

The PM thanked them for their role in "dispensing vital medicines" and for providing "reassurance for customers they interact with."

The anonymous pharmacist told the Harrogate Advertiser that the opening hours of community pharmacies had been changed to give more time to make up medical prescriptions.

Staff were now allowed to work behind closed doors for up to two-and-a-half hours each day, including a possible lunchtime, in order to create some uninterrupted time to deal with the vastly increased workload.

But the experienced pharmacist said the issues remained nonetheless.

The six main challenges included:

1. Reduced staffing as a result of staff members going into isolation due to themselves or a family member displaying symptoms of Covid-19.

Lack of testing can mean staff are having to take more time off than might be necessary.

2. The vastly increased workload also means pharmacies staff are not always taking proper take proper rest breaks which risks a lack of concentration when making up prescriptions, which is potentially dangerous.

3 Since the Government announced a medicine delivery service from pharmacies was to be set up, pharmacies staff have been been inundated with phone calls, taking valuable time away from processing the immense volume of prescriptions now pouring in.

4. A large increase in demand for prescription medicines means wholesalers are struggling to keep some high volume items in stock all of the time.

5. Many pharmacies are small and it is proving difficult to achieve two metre "social distancing" if there are any more than two customers plus staff in a pharmacy at the same time.

6. Staff at pharmacies feel undervalued because the Government's praise for the NHS includes the likes of doctors and nurses, paramedics and midwives but rarely pharmacists.

NHS England and NHS Improvement has been issuing a a series of regular updates to community pharmacy regarding the emerging COVID-19 situation.

It also says it began delivering packs of Personal protective equipment (PPE) to community pharmacies across England on March 13.

The packs are for use by the pharmacy staff and patients in the pharmacy only and contain:

1 box of fluid repellent face masks (50 pack).

1 roll of aprons (200).

1 box of gloves (100 pairs).

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