COVID-19

Changes to our operations and service

This is a message to update all of our customers who use our pharmacy. Thank-you for everyone's support, kind words and patience this year with the emergence of the COVID 19 pandemic. Please be aware that it is mandatory to wear a face mask in the pharmacy in line with current government recommendations. We are currently letting in two customers at a time. We ask that customers respect the current guidance on wearing a face mask in the pharmacy and maintain social distancing. Measures we have taken include staff wearing face masks, a protective screen at the front counter, a regular cleaning schedule and signing prescriptions on behalf of all our patients.

CHANGE TO OPENING HOURS: From Saturday 7th November we will have to reduce our opening hours somewhat due to members of staff having to shield with the start of lockdown. The new opening hours will be as follows:

Monday to Friday:  7am — 8pm,   Saturday: 7am — 5pm,   Sunday :   10am — 2pm

These hours will be maintained until such time that lockdown ends. We will continue to provide all services as normal. We have seen a huge increase in our workload and volume of prescription requests since lockdown was announced in addition to the fact that November is always the start of a very busy period for our pharmacy. With this in mind, there are a number of things our patients can do to help:

• ORDERING PRESCRIPTIONS - We are currently asking customers to order as usual and we will allow up to 2 weeks before they are due. Please do not request more than 2 months at a time or order too early. This will only contribute to medicine shortages. The pharmacy can get very busy and the phone at times will ring continuously. We would strongly encourage anyone who has an internet connection to register and use our website to order prescriptions online. You can also link to an app and use your smart phone to order. Details are set out on our website. This will free up the phone to allow customers who cannot use online services to phone through their prescription orders. It also helps to free up our time to keep on top of the large workload we have. For those who like to come in to order their repeat prescription and are a patient of Westbourne Medical Centre, to avoid queuing and save time, please use your white repeat prescription order form, tick what you want then drop this off in the repeat prescription box just inside the main entrance of the surgery. We always put a copy of your latest repeat prescription order form with your most recent prescription. Please note we do ask for 3 working days minimum to process prescriptions. Coming in to collect before your prescription is due only contributes to our workload so please avoid doing this if possible.

Please try to order your main repeat prescription all at once rather than at different times.  We can help with issuing specific amounts rounded up or down to the nearest half-pack to synchronise all your medication. This means you will be able to order everything at the same time going forward and will be of beneficial to both you and us. 

• DELIVERY SERVICE - Poole Bay Pharmacy currently offer free delivery to anyone who is 70 or over.  For those under 70 who require a delivery there will be a charge of £2 to cover some of the additional costs we will incur. For those who wish to make use of this service please call the pharmacy or contact us via our website.  

• Shielding — If you have been advised to shield we kindly ask if you can encourage a family member, friend, carer or volunteer  to come in and collect if possible. The reason being that we anticipate most  customers should only need to collect their prescription once during this 4 week lockdown period and we are still open long hours even with reduced opening.  Obviously if there is no-one who can do this on your behalf then we will deliver. free of charge. 

• Again please order in good time. With the high volume of deliveries we already make we ask to allow 3-4 working days before you will receive your medication. 
  

NOTE: For those customers who live outside a 2 mile radius of our pharmacy it may be easier to get your prescription transferred to a more local pharmacy. With the massive surge in demand for deliveries we will not be able to deliver to those that live some distance away. If unsure please check with the pharmacy first.

Finally I want to express my huge appreciation for how understanding all our customers have been  since COVID 19 first reared its ugly presence. We do aim to keep the queue moving to minimise waiting for our customers but there will be certain peak times where this is unavoidable. Please bear with us when this occurs. We would also encourage all those feeling vulnerable and in need of support or simply just requiring some advice to please call us; we can't always get to our phones in time but we will endeavour to give everyone we speak to, the time and help they require. Many of you have sent cards and/or spoken with sincere gratitude and appreciation for what we do. A massive thank-you to every single one of you; it really does make a big difference to us here at the pharmacy to receive such encouraging feedback.

Please keep up-to-date with government recommendations on the COVID 19 virus pandemic and follow their guidance. Our advice will always be consistent with what the Department of Health and NHS England are recommending. We want all our customers to remain safe and Poole Bay Pharmacy is committed to doing our absolute best to meet all your needs as we enter a second lockdown. If you have concerns or questions it is best to contact us by phone or message us using our website.

Yours Sincerely,

Atheel Edmunds
(Superintendent Pharmacist Manager)

on behalf of all the Poole Bay Pharmacy team.

Wednesday 4th November 2020