Smarmy pharmacist thinks hes a doctor. Not perscribing and changing perscription items as theyre coming out of his own pocket. Condescending attitude. Letting down the surgerys reputation big time

Missing repeat prescriptions Items… When you find missing medication from an ordered repeat prescription for the first time and have to order it again and return on another day to collect is annoying and an inconvenience … The second time this happens you start to wonder if this chemist know what they are doing! The third time this happens again you know there is a greedy corporate giant behind the scenes pushing there staff to breaking point … cutting costs … not paying there taxes… instead money going into the pockets of a few greedy large investors personally enriching a handful of executives The fourth time this happens you start doing a bit of digging: Britain’s trusted high street chemist hasn’t been feeling well of late - and it’s getting sicker. The brainchild of agricultural worker John Boot in 1849, the Nottingham herbalist store rapidly grew from humble beginnings into the country’s largest chemists’ chain. By revolutionizing access to affordable medicines in the pre-NHS era, Boots became a household name. Since 1948 it has retained its central place in the functioning of the NHS. It is the largest single employer of NHS-trained pharmacists (6700) and pharmacy technicians (2500) outside of the NHS. Pharmacy has long-been held up by the pro-privatisation lobby as an example of how the private sector has in fact been providing NHS services for years, 'playing nicely'. Boots made its name on providing patient care to millions. For 165 years it had what other companies would do almost anything for: the trust of its customers. Repeatedly named as one of the UK’s most trusted brands, Boots symbolised reliability and quality, securing a prominent and enduring position amongst our national retail heritage. But times have changed. In 2006, Boots UK merged with European pharmacy wholesaler Alliance Unichem Plc to become Alliance Boots. And just one year later, the company went private in a £12 billion buyout led by US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). That’s when the fairytale took a dark twist. KKR is one of the largest private equity firms in the world, ranking with the likes of Goldman Sachs and Bain Capital. KKR and its fellow private equity beasts don’t want to be passive investors, but to take the reins of the business and use their controlling position to restructure the company before ‘flipping’ their assets and selling off at a profit. Now, KKR is selling its remaining stake in Boots to what will now become the biggest pharmacy chain in the world, US-based Walgreens. The complex deal is not likely to undo the damage inflicted by eight years of being one of the largest private equity buyouts in Europe. Walgreens have already said they will make $1billion of efficiency savings - or cuts - as a result of the deal, with no guarantees on protecting pharmacist and other staff numbers. And for the last eight years, Boots has taken advantage of the private equity model that allows it to operate with far more secrecy and less regulation in its business dealings, than do publicly listed companies. The impact on Boots values during this time has been stark. A recent example was its decision by Boots to sell e-cigarettes despite warnings from the Royal Pharmacological Society (RPS) about their risks. The World Health Organization (WHO), British Medical Association (BMA) and the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) are all unable to vouch for their safety. But Boots has persisted in the multimillion dollar deal – joining up with Fontem Ventures, a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco. More generally, Boots pharmacists increasingly feel that the logic of big business is compromising their professional autonomy, integrity, and statutory duties towards patients. “I gave up my job because I could not keep working in such conditions,” a former Boots pharmacist told us. “I was offered a 40-hour contract, training, competent staff… But none of my colleagues had the requisite training to dispense medicin