Guidance on pharmacy visits over Christmas
- Ressidents encouraged to fetch repeat prescriptions ahead of bank holidays.
- Patients with adequate supplies should delay obtaining medications until after Christmas.
- Pharmacists may dispense prescriptions up to four business days in advance.
- Chief Pharmacist Teena Bhogal highlights the importance of planning ahead to manage pharmacy workloads.
- Public holidays heighten demand on pharmacies due to reduced staff and logistics challenges.
Residents are urged to assist pharmacies by collecting repeat prescriptions before the upcoming bank holidays.
Those with sufficient medications at home are advised to wait until after the Christmas period to obtain additional supplies.
This approach will enable the limited number of pharmacies operating during the holiday to concentrate on urgent and acute prescriptions for individuals who may become unwell over the weekend.
Pharmacists at their discretion can dispense prescriptions up to four business days prior to the instructed date, provided there is ample stock.
Anyone who is off the island on the scheduled date of their next prescription can get it earlier.
Teena Bhogal, Chief Pharmacist, said: “Our community pharmacies provide vital services for the community but are under continuing pressure. All will be extremely busy in the coming weeks.”
She added, "Pharmacies and their staff continue to work extremely hard to provide essential services. This includes not just the supply of our medicines; they are also a valuable source of health information and advice for our community."
Bhogal emphasised the need for public collaboration, noting that many pharmacies opt to remain open on public holidays, ensuring that islanders have access to their services. However, reduced staffing on these days makes advance planning critical for managing workloads effectively.
“Public holidays often increase the pressure on our pharmacies; although their working hours may be less, the volume of work remains the same or often increases,” Bhogal noted.
She highlighted the significant logistical hurdles local pharmacies face, including reduced freight services and the closure of pharmaceutical wholesalers in the UK, which complicates the task of maintaining sufficient medication stocks over holiday weekends.
Residents are also encouraged to check that they have adequate supplies of over-the-counter medicines prior to the holidays.
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