Our local shops are constantly fighting for our business against the pull of the big corporations, and especially in a small town, we know they'll know if they go elsewhere. Sometimes, however, against our best intentions, another business might be more suitable to us and we're faced with the dilemma of cheating on our locals.
One woman has shared the dilemma online to figure out when is best to draw the line. In her case, she's wondering whether it's time to cheat on her local pharmacy. Her mind is especially torn given the ongoing fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and its effect on small businesses. Many pharmacy workers have noticed an increase in abuse as a result of the pandemic, read more on that here.
She writes: "My local pharmacy is small and independent, and opposite our doctor's surgery, so services a lot of the local community. My [dear husband] and I both have repeat prescriptions and use it regularly, and always liked that it was a bit 'old school' [...] Since Christmas it's gone from mad to worse.
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"They stopped doing prescriptions at all for a week. For three weeks nobody was allowed inside because of 'staff issues' so everybody had to queue outside like they were collecting food stamps and wait for a person to open the door a crack and thrust your prescription at you. I spent literally hours of my life down there standing in the freezing cold.
"That's finished now, but a note on the door today states that they now need five working days to process prescriptions. Oh and they're cash only for the foreseeable. The nearest cash point is over a mile away."
Since using her local pharmacy she has also moved further away, meaning there's a pharmacy that's closer to their home. Her husband disagrees with this however, stating he feels bad they won't be supporting a local business through a tough period. What would you do in this situation? Let us know in the comments.
She asked her fellow Mumsnet users whether it would be unreasonable to switch chemists, stating: "I know the staff by name and I know I will be given a very dirty look if I suddenly go back there after not going for a long time. But I just want to get my meds and f**k off!"
One pharmacy worker said she wished her customers were as thoughtful, she wrote: "Five days to process a prescription is too long, especially if it isn’t on a repeat. They are clearly very behind and need a new system in place. My pharmacy was like this during the peak of Covid and it was horrendous, you are probably doing them a favour by leaving as they clearly have too many patients than they can handle."
Another agreed that the pharmacy industry is generally struggling with demand, they replied: "You can use any pharmacy you like, it's entirely up to you. Pharmacy in general is struggling at present. Funding cuts, staffing issues, being hit hard by Covid pressures. I'm honestly worried for the future of the sector." You can get all of WalesOnline's breaking news straight to your inbox by signing up for free here.
