Reply from Mason and Son (Chemists) Ltd
Tue, 11 Dec 2018 14:02:06 Z

Dear Sir/Madam(s) Our team at Markfield branch have been upset to read your comments about the service levels they provide to their customers and our community. It is difficult to understand the exact situations that have prompted your comments given they are from a group of people and have been posted anonymously and therefore offer us no opportunity to investigate nor rectify any specific failings. However, we would welcome the chance to discuss with your group the issues you have raised and would happily organise a formal forum to address your problems and concerns. You can arrange this directly with the branch manager, Mark Benoit or alternatively I can be contacted directly to arrange by emailing: JaneLumb@MasonsChemists.co.uk We undertake a customer satisfaction survey each year, published on our NHS Choices page, and the vast majority of our customers surveyed (150+) report satisfaction with the amount of time taken to provide them with their prescription or any other NHS service (2% not very satisfied, 0% were not at all satisfied) and the time taken to be served (95%) but of course we recognise that sometimes there are waits or problems with particular prescriptions which can cause delays, some of these are within our control and reflect a failing in our service levels, but many more are out of the control of the pharmacy and the staff there. Regarding your comments on our staff communication and attentiveness, again these views are not consistent with the findings of our survey where 94% rated the staff as very good, 6% as fairly good. Again we would value the opportunity to discuss any shortcomings you have reported. We work closely with the adjoining surgery and liaise directly with them to prevent patients being shuttled back and forth between us and we are not aware, nor is the Practice Manager with whom we have discussed your comments, of any such strained relationships. Our contact audit for November 2018 showed that we directly resolved 118 issues in person, or in writing with the GP surgery to provide a one stop solution for patients whenever issues arise and precisely to prevent patients being caught between our two service providers. The lunchtime closure we have formally reviewed on a number of occasions. We are bound by legal frameworks such as the Responsible Pharmacist Regulations, The Medicines Act and the Working Time Directive- all of which impact the way in which we operate our pharmacies - again I am happy to discuss the rationale and the reasons that we as an organisation have taken the decision to close for lunchtime and therefore give our pharmacists a protected break. I would be happy to both explain and evidence the patient safety reasons and the commercial reasons that has meant we have not overturned this decision. Finally you may be aware, as many of our customers are, that in line with many publicly funded services, Community Pharmacy is under increasing pressure financially as we have sustained cuts to our core funding from the NHS of over 20% over the past 2 years. During this time there has understandably been an increase in the pressures placed upon our branch teams which will have in turn put pressure on the customer experience. With ongoing National and shortly International stock shortages, this will no doubt continue over coming months. Against this backdrop, as an organisation, we are very proud of our staff and the efforts they go to for our customers. Yours Sincerely H Jane Lumb Superintendent Pharmacist