I hate MURs.
I hate to admit it, I thought they would grow on me. I gave them a fair chance, I did, I cannot lie. But no, all I feel is hatred.
Who the hell thought them up - If I knew I will strangle them!
One master pen stroke decision, and the industry is turned upside down. The golden years are long gone, dead.
So many colleagues are stressed and depressed over these targets.
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I am a trained professional, read my flipping lips, a P R O F E S S I O N A L. Years studying books, journals, papers, an academic genius I am, really I am! How many people know the 28x table or know CYP450 is inhibited by the humble grapefruit. I am now reduced to venting my frustration in an infantile rant on a blog. Will it do me good? I suspect not. For others, the complaints have fallen on death ears.
Now I use all my genius and cunning instead to try every tactic in my arsenal to lure a patient in for a MUR. Lying, bribing, exaggerating, flirting I know every trick in the book. For without a bait, a firm "No" I will receive. Hook line and sinker. I have to sell myself, my body for MURs.
Sigh,
I am not a Salesman, touting for business, that I did not train for, or want to be. But that's my focus now, every day. It would be nice if I got a fat commission - I don't. Perhaps I should be selling cars or houses, I'd be rich and out of this mess of chasing MURs, for all the extra work, my pay rise was 1.5%. AND I MANAGED AT GREAT PAINS AND EFFORT TO DO 400 LAST YEAR.
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Two a day they say, TWO! That’s Four hundred a year.
Easy for them to say - who gets it in the neck if a clinical error is made? No other pharmacist to check items, it's just me. I can understand we cannot afford, the locums are charging £30/hour these days. Oh and it's a bonus, and a real bonus, if they are motivated to do an MUR in between their many conversations on their mobiles whilst in the dispensary.
Some say they don't want an MUR, some have had it done already last year, and feel they do not want another. Fine. My heart sinks, I cannot force them into the room. I would love to then say, thanks, you're directly responsible for putting my job at risk, but I cannot.
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How many resources do we have, how many hours in the day? How many items to check, how many patient queries do we get? How many phone calls do we have to answer because they want to speak to the boss? How many items do you have to dispense yourself because of the lack of bodies? How many other things in my day, EHC, HL, WL, I will pull my hair out. 10 fold increase in work and my stress 100 fold.
We're doing 25% more prescriptions than last year, but we haven't hit the arbitary figure to enable more help. My dispenser works flat out, we are physically and mentally shattered at the end of each day. Thanks Head Office. From forum conversations, and my phone conversations locally it is the same story at other stores.
I read in the Superintendents letter today, two patients hospitalised after receiving the wrong medication - standard procedure needs to be followed confirming name and address. For gawds sake these are school boy errors. Has Pharmacy gone back to the dark ages?
Less and less time available to check prescriptions properly. Too much to do, not enough time. Did I check the expiry date properly? Must have, I hope, too late, Mrs Smith has already taken it out of the store. Whoops apocalypse.
To the critics and flammers - How would you like it I was responsible for the death of your grandmother because I gave out propranolol instead of prednisolone? Just because I was too pressed over MUR targets? I would kill myself if I knew, but not before the company top boss.
The lack of staff - It is no different elsewhere, the cancer of greed and cost cutting is pandemic. The company took on huge debts, the economy crashed - but why should it be my fault?
37 staff in the old days in this store, count em’! 37. Now only 9 if we’re lucky.
I thought as civilisation progresses we should be happier - that is utterly false. I am not rich, I drive a modest car worth £2000, looked after my money, saved, stayed out of debt, in fact I rent, as the houses are so expensive round here. In fact I can all about afford is a 1 bedroom flat and then I'll need to take on massive mortgage for 30 years. 30 years of MUR chasing! I don't think it's worth it anymore, this rat race.
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They only care about the money, and creeping up to their bosses, eyeing a promotion and bonus. All for their greedy gains - not for patients at all really. That's the private sector and high up in government.
Our moral compass is broken. Hello broken Britain, as the red band tabloid newspaper eloquently puts it. Local hospital alcohol related admissions doubles, teenage pregnancy increases I read in the paper. No surprise really.
Short terminism is rife, don’t expect long term sustaining ideals of this "profession". Change for the sake of change, has anyone thought it through?
Sure patients get benefits from MURs, but at what costs to the mental health from the pressure put upon the people who conduct the service? I wonder how the focus would be if they withdrew all funding for it. Hmm, I wonder what the target would be now? Answer me that!
Who gets it in the neck if a clinical error is made?
I checked near 300 items today, customers are happy to have it ready for them to collect. The store didn't burn down, no one was killed from a dispensing error today. We made a lot of money on sales. Do I get any thanks? Or do they focus on the first thing - how many MURs have you done? And now with these open plan checking benches, I am interrupted every minute, by customers less than 2ft away. My blood boils, I have to not make an error, not make an error, not make an error, and smile at the customer, smile at the customer, we'll be with you in a moment, in a moment, just a moment......
Taken for granted, I tells ya. Us Pharmacists, we're too soft. If it was any other profession, there would be a uproar. Policemen, doctors, teachers, they wouldn't put up with it. Why should we?
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A revolution is coming, it will not be pleasant to see. So many taking early retirement, or leaving the job altogether. Let this be a warning, there will be a breaking point and crisis if nothing is changed.
And please, 600 a year?
You've got to be kidding, give me a disciplinary or performance review.
I am a P R O F E S S I O N A L, for gawds sake. I feel I am treated like a pawn in a big game, a game played by private equity, the promotion ladder of middle managers, greedy business men and banksters.
Who gets it in the neck if a clinical error is made?
Sure, they threaten performance reviews and disciplinaries, but remember I am not a salesman! Does one discipline a Doctor or Nurse for doing their dammed hardest? I work my dammed hardest everyday for an honest buck. But what's the point?
I know the PDA will be busy and have plenty of work in the coming months, and years. Perhaps I shall work for them.
In the mean time the struggle goes on, I am just a number in the businesses eyes, a number, I must yield their calculated "return on investment". How so clever.
I have bills to pay, family to look after, I am not a number, I am a real person. I love my work, or at least I used to.....
I'll take a pay cut, I will, for less pressure. But I doubt they will agree on that deal.
Who gets it in the neck if a clinical error is made? ME. And I would be responsible for a patient death. I couldn't live with myself. Those MUR targets go hide away then don't they...
I wish I had a billion. That's 1000 million. 1000 million. Not even the Lottery Jackpot is a touch on that figure. Many powerful business men have multiple billions. How can people be worth that kind of money? Is it the leverage over many thousands of honest hardworking workers, like me?
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In conclusion,
I hold my head up high, and wait for this storm to blow over. I have my certificate and experience - surely the society cannot think of ways take that away? I'll keep my mouth shut about remote supervision then....
For The PDA guidance on MURs http://www.the-pda.org/advice_centre/article.html?ad_id=858
