Boots Pharmacy

They told me it would be 25mins and they would beep me, due to my hidden disability they left me waiting in an almost empty waiting room for 90mins. I eventually assumed they had forgotten about me, and when I was served the order had been ready after 5 mins and just not told me. No apology or explanation, I've just wish they were a little more alert.
Mar 21st, 2023

Absolutely shocking service and incompetent staff, they give you a buzzer that will beep when your medication is ready but then they forget to alert you, waited for nearly an hour only to be told that someone forgot to alert you and that the medicine was ready 45 min ago! What a waste of time and the store shelves are always empty and depressing!
Mar 11th, 2023

I came here for my brothers prescription and the worker said it will be 1 hour cause there was a query on it. However there was a worker called Abdullah who sorted it out for me very quick and efficiently. Very helpful.
Mar 1st, 2023

Very pleased with the service. The staff member Abdullah helped me sort out my dads medication.
Feb 15th, 2023

I have been a hospital outpatient for many years, from when it was a hospital managed inpatient and outpatient pharmacy, then outpatients split between hospital and Boots and to now, with Boots in sole charge. The visit to Boots is quite possibly the worst part of a hospital visit and now that I am on largely repeat prescriptions, it's a massive inconvenience. The experience is generally awful and as follows. Join the queue to get to the desk which on many occasions will be manned by one member of staff. I have been in queues extending out of the pharmacy and around the corner into the main hospital. At worst factor 45 mins to an hour to get to the desk. If it is that busy then the wait will be at least an hour, nearer 2 hours for your prescription to be ready. They used to put an estimated wait time notice at the desk but seems to have been binned as it was so far from reality. Then join the wait in the waiting area with 8 or 9 chairs for the next hour or so. When it was hospital managed they had a display that showed the prescription number being processed so you had some clues to your wait. Boots technology is far less sophisticated, even their paper notice has been consigned to the bin. If you have a prescription submitted by your consultant they tend to wait until you present yourself at the desk before making up the prescription, adding to your wait. So if I just need a prescription alone I will either have to venture to a Boots, none of which are close and means buses or a car and parking fees. I have asked whether I can use my local pharmacy but for hospital outpatients the private deal has been done with Boots, there isn't any patient choice for prescriptions. Given the systems you would have thought it wouldn't be too difficult to nominate a pharmacy and have them receive the hospital prescription. In contrast my local pharmacy is withing walking distance. If I need a repeat prescription I click the order on the NHS app. It's approved by my GP and generally ready in a day or so. I get a text from the pharmacy to say it's ready and generally I have it in my hands in a few minutes of walking through their door. Boots have a monopoly on the Hallamshire service and I guess run it for maximum profit, customer experience doesn't impact their returns so why bother investing in it. Patient choice and being able to nominate your own pharmacy seems to be the way forward but how do we achieve this?
Jan 6th, 2023