There must be a reason for it all. Mustn’t there?
There’s got to be a reason! There must be a reason for it all.
Ever asked yourself why we do things? Supervised methadone and buprenorphine. Nursing and residential home and vulnerable people dosage packs, NMS (New Medicine Service), blood pressure testing, Pharmacy First? Why is it we cannot sell more than one pack of decongestants per person at a time in the U.K? The list is endless.
Just 100,000 years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today, there is just one. Us. Homo Sapiens (a.k.a. Wise Human). Arguably the most destructive species to ever inhabit our Earth – records show that wherever we have gone we have eliminated large life forms (megafauna) from the buffalo of North America, to the Do-do (Not the Chesteze remedy pharmacies sell) in Mauritius, blue whale populations are only just recovering from our attempts to hunt them to extinction – Blue whales are the largest animals ever known to have lived on Earth according to the National Geographic Society. Homo Sapiens is so destructive that on 16th July 1945, at 05.49 and 45 seconds, the first atomic bomb was detonated, at Alamagordo, in the New Mexico desert. From that moment, humankind thus has had the capability not only to change history, but also to end it. “Wise Human?”
Modern science, of which Pharmacy is a component, is based on the Latin injunction.
Ignoramus – ‘we do not know’.
We do so much without always understanding or knowing why we do it and rarely do we question our actions. We already have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world many times over, but still, we make more and threaten to use them on each other. So why do we continue? If we don’t understand why we do things, how do we know it’s wise to continue doing them? Or, if we are going to continue doing them, how can we do things better? There’s got to be a reason.
Our years of experience at the sharp end of pharmacy has taught us many of the reasons why and as we recently reviewed our operation, it has become apparent that not everyone knows or understands why we do what we all do. We have a long running issue where people consider themselves locum but the tax-man (HMRC) have been arguing they are not and the pharmacy companies have been negotiating payment of taxes HMRC say are owed by the companies to the tune of £550 million, which if accepted without your agreement could then result in you being charged tax and National Insurance back over a seven year period. Can you really risk this?
It doesn’t have to be this way. We set up for just these reasons, to protect people from innocently sleep-walking into a fix from which they might find it difficult to get out of. No amount of clever A.I. (surely this is an oxymoron?!) or a flashy app will save anyone from unintended consequences.
In a world that keeps getting more and more demanding, you should want to work with people who can help you prevent a crash-landing. We have been helping people do this since 1992, which to some might seem like forever ago, but on our journey, we have made mistakes and learned from them, so we can pass on our knowledge and expertise to whoever wants to listen and learn (and there are those who don’t, sadly for them, but we all make choices, some good, some bad. But do we learn? The choice is yours.
We aim to make a series of posts tackling some of these issues, the first will follow in a few days tackling the HMRC and IR35 situation in detail, as it seems many people don’t understand it although we are aware that some do and put their heads in the sand. Choices!
Whether you’re looking to start locum work, have had issues with HMRC and companies wishing to make you an employee, if you are looking for a permanent job (full or part time) or locum work, in any area of Pharmacy, whether you are a pharmacist, manager, locum, technician, dispenser, we can help guide you through the pitfalls. Together, we are stronger, divided, we are conquered.
Register with us and see how we can help you. THERE HAS TO BE A REASON FOR IT ALL.
