JULY ,Edition # 30 , 2001

Editor's Note:
Roy is back from putting out fires, but there is a nasty rumour going around that he is only burning down non Guild Quality Care accredited pharmacies. One way of getting rid of the last 1000 pharmacies that he talks about in his current article.
So you will have to read on to find out what escapades he has been up to in locumland, but keep the fire extinguisher handy.

I think a lot, about what I am doing, and how I do it. I find (surprise, surprise) that writing is therapeutic.
I think my six months locum experience working in fourteen different pharmacies, using six different dispense programs does qualify me to comment on the industry.

This Locum Pharmacist Thing is hard work, if you want to do it properly.
My personal opinion it that the diminishing number of competent relievers (am I competent??) is a real threat to the future of Pharmacy.
Maybe I am crossing over to Rollo Manning’s field …. Keep me honest mate… !
I have been in two pharmacies recently, where I have had to tell them I will not be back. In one, I felt very exposed professionally – poor staffing levels, hopeless systems, filthy, grossly unprofessional Methadone etc. etc.
The other was “run” – in the owner’s absence, by "The Bitch from Hell", who knew nothing except how to be a Bitch. She was constantly snapping at my heels, and tapping the screen of an unfamiliar Amfac Windows software, to the point where I was making dispense errors.
I had to ban her from the dispensary, and tell her to stay where I could see her, so that I could see the traps she was setting for me. In that pharmacy, I had to buy my own coffee and make it as well!
Not very Locum friendly!
In another – very well set up Pharmacy, I followed a series of relievers who have severely stressed the staff and the patients. This pharmacy has given me an insight into what happens to a pharmacy, when the locum pharmacist is not up to scratch.
There are locums out there who have sold their own pharmacies, because they think locum work is a highly paid bludge – NOT SO! – as they find to their cost - when the word gets around that they are hopeless. These guys are eventually forced into regular days, a salaried pharmacist, or even buy another business.
In my area, there are fewer and fewer Locum Pharmacists who are prepared to do full weeks, and even fewer who are prepared to walk into a different pharmacy every week or two, and fewer still who are good at it – remember that six different software systems, and the wide disparity of systems.
I am also working the country, but I cannot yet express experienced opinions on locums, and locum availability out there. Others will have to judge where I fit in the scheme of things.
Fellas … take a shot .. maybe I am an ego out of control.
I have been told that before … your opinion is valued here … this is an open forum.
My point here is that there are good pharmacies, and there are bad pharmacies. Accreditation – in my experience – almost always results in a GOOD (Locum) pharmacy. However, there is a vast spread of standards below Accredited Pharmacies.
I worry a lot about what will happen, regarding the availability of good locums to Pharmacy. This was one of the main reasons I sold my own pharmacy.
It seems Pharmacies will be forced to lift their act, as more and more of the government fees for service will be dependent on documented proof of delivery of these services.
Many will not be able to do that.
Will the Guild allow the bottom end of the scale to survive, or will the Guild, and the profession be prepared to stand back and watch them perish?
The alternative is that, inevitably, we will all be drawn down to the lowest common denominator.
By extrapolating my own limited experience, there are five out of the fourteen pharmacies I have worked in, which should not survive into the New Age Pharmacy which the Guild has planned for us.
A plan which I agree with, because it makes my job easier, in that I do not have to work in crappy, or tired, or dysfunctional pharmacies.
The guys who are able to access Computachem are probably on the “up” side of my equation, because of their computer literacy.
Quality Care tells us that 1200 pharmacies have been accredited to date.
I congratulate two of “my” pharmacies who have just done it.
Well done fellas.
These guys felt like accredited pharmacies anyway!
So they should be accredited.
Personally, I judge pharmacies I work in, on if they “feel right” .
Egotistical…??….
Maybe…??
So there are about 3000 to go …. The drivers of the (Guild Quality Care) GQC thing will admit that the first 1000 must be easy.
I think the take-up rate linked with the $10,000 has proved that.
The second 1000 will take a bit more time, it is slowing down.
The third 1000 will get there eventually, with threats and coercion.
So that leaves the last 1000 … too entrenched … too hopeless … too unprofessional … too close to good opposition … too …. Just.. “too”.
They will not make it.
Will they be allowed to perish, or will the profession try to protect its own, at a huge cost. My experience, although I don’t think this is a controlled study, is that most of the country pharmacies will survive.
The suburbs and the towns with three and four pharmacies within a hundred yards will suffer – two will have to go.
This also is a generalisation, but is also common sense in today’s world.
Having worked for a week or two in a pharmacy, you can pick which ones are going to survive and which ones are not.
Even John Bronger has said Pharmacy should move on without the dead wood. May I suggest that – in my opinion - John Bronger owns several pharmacies, but he does not have a locum perspective on what’s out there. His pharmacies are well run – I have one in my area.
He cannot know intimately what happens in the crappy pharmacies.
As an aside, one of his senior staff was with me for about eighteen months (when I had my own pharmacy. How egotistical is “THAT”).
The Guild may have reports of the “bottom” end of pharmacy, but I doubt if many movers and shakers have actually worked in the “bottom” end of pharmacy.
(Neil J will have some problem with my use of the word “bottom”.)
Just as a Krusty prod … I see some Pharmacy Direct, and Pharmacy by Mail, repeats go through.
Their repeat forms reflect a professional operation – everything is there – no faded prints – no poorly aligned forms.
This presentation is in stark contrast to the presentation of some of the respondents to the recent Guild Survey.
These guys (Pdirect) are obviously under intense scrutiny, and they are aware of it, and seem to be responding to it.
The main body of pharmacy is also under intense scrutiny, but seems to be unaware of it, and does not seem to be able (or capable) of responding to it.
I do not seek employment in pharmacy by mail operations, so don’t even ask, guys!
I would never work again in the great body of pharmacy, but then, I expect you know that.
But is it sensible, or just head up the bottom stuff?
However, my point is… what is my point???
Maybe this is a good point to break, and continue later….. Watch this space … I might have a go at the Pharmacy Board …..

Just a Simple Krusty Joke - but I like it, I like it…
" It was the final examination for an introductory English course at the local university. The examination was two hours long, and exam booklets were provided. The professor was very strict and told the class that any exam that was not on his desk in exactly two hours would not be accepted and the student would fail.
A half hour into the exam, a student came rushing in and asked the professor for an exam booklet.
"You're not going to have time to finish this," the professor stated sarcastically as he handed the student a booklet.
"Yes I will," replied the student.
He then took a seat and began writing.
After two hours, the professor called for the exams, and the students filed up and handed them in. All except the late student, who continued writing.
A half hour later, the last student came up to the professor who was sitting at his desk preparing for his next class. He attempted to put his exam on the stack of exam booklets already there.
"No you don't, I'm not going to accept that. It's late."
The student looked incredulous and angry.
"Do you know WHO I am?"
"No, as a matter of fact I don't," replied the professor.
"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" the student asked again.
"No, and I don't care." replied the professor with an air of superiority.
"Good," replied the student, who quickly lifted the stack of completed exams, stuffed his in the middle, and walked out of the room.

Ends
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Editor's Note:
With a unique brand of humour, a capacity for expecting the unexpected and a high degree of professionalism, it is obvious that Roy is providing a first class service as a locum.
I am sure there are a number of prospective employers who would like to meet him. He now has a website located at:

http://www.computachem.com.au/locums/RoyStevenson.html

You can arrange more information, and a locum booking, from this site.

Roy S.Stevenson Ph.C. M.P.S.,
Locum Pharmacist
40 Northminster Way
RATHMINES 2283.
Tel 4975 5548 Mob. 0402 406 691 Fax 0249 75 2334
ABN 11 585 465 385

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