Ultan Molloy reflects on pharmacists being ‘entitled’ to business and some money finally flowing into the sector
It’s like the wild west all over again here in the west. There’s a bit of a land grab going on, a colleague of mine said to me recently. The penny hadn’t really dropped until I started contacting local schools to see if they wanted an on-site vaccination service for the nasal flu vaccine. It turns out I was very late to the party, with the majority of schools being serviced by a local GP practice, another local pharmacy chain, or a “specialist” school vaccine service ran out of a pharmacy down the country somewhere.
I’m not sure what makes them more special than us, but that’s my frustration talking. The same frustration which has been exacerbated by the lack of replies from schools via emails, answerphone messages and phone calls. Perhaps its overwhelm, maybe different priorities, or a low value placed on a response. A yes or no maybe is too much. We’ll have them coming to the door this year of course looking for raffle prizes, sponsorship, and advertising, and we’ll just suck it up I suppose. That is just how the world works in this instance.
We aren’t and weren’t entitled to the business, and as my wife reminded me in the midst of my frustration, we are not “lacking”. Business is reasonably good, thankfully, and we’re making ends meet, even though our wage bill has increased by a percentage in the high teens year on year. Wage increases, a loyalty scheme with additional days holidays for longer serving team members, and government introduced sick pay have added to this figure, and pensions will soon have to be funded out of the business also.
“Sure the Americans think Ireland is a socialist country” a friend of mine who works in a multinational IT company said to me. It led to an interesting chat about the culture over there of hiring and firing, and a kind of if you’re not winning, you’re losing, literally and figuratively. The gap between rich and poor, the healthcare system, and the social brutality of it all has me glad to be living on this little rainy Island. I know there’s bias of course, societal values, and what I’m used to, but there you go anyway.
Socialist country or not, we’ll have to live with it when it comes to sick pay, a higher minimum wage and soon compulsory employer pension contributions. Capitalism will come into play then of course, as we will have to make ends meet, and balance the books.
Good news recently, and well done to the IPU after many many frustrating years of engagement with various ministers for health, the HSE and civil servants, we have some money coming into the sector. Don’t get me started on the 70%+ increase in payments to GP’s over the last ten years, but anyway, something is better than noting. I’ve no doubt that we can prove our value, and show a return on investment for the department, for the community pharmacy sector. 25million or so this year, and 50million next year, and assumedly that will continue into the future, for extending pharmacy services.
Socialist country or not, we’ll have to live with it when it comes to sick pay, a higher minimum wage and soon compulsory employer pension contributions
The IMO didn’t like that either did they. “Dangerous” for patients not to see a GP when they need to hey announced, clearly basing this on the impeccable logic that if it takes three weeks to get an appointment with a GP (which it did for my wife recently), then going to a pharmacy in the meantime is tantamount to idiocy. Sure what else where they going to say the poor creatures. Their appetite for snobbery abounds, and their lack of one for collaboration on a healthy and sensible way forward in primary care to best serve patients, defies belief, given a caring profession and an associated Hippocratic oath. I know these types are in the minority, but it appears the empty cans control the agenda and media inputs. We’ll see what the next couple of years brings. I hope the patient extended services through pharmacy are introduced with a healthy degree of pragmatism and common sense, so that we’re not further tied up in paperwork and regulations. It’s important to remain optimistic isn’t it. It’s even more important to embrace gratitude. We’re not the worst off, are we? Many challenges lie ahead, and hopefully we’ll see some opportunities emerge alongside them.
Ultan Molloy is a businessand professional performance coach, pharmacist, facilitator, and development specialist. He works with other pharmacists, business owners, and third parties to develop business strategies. Ultan can be contacted on 086 169 3343.
