Mateusz Rosiak
Well, I heard about Tesco when I was studying my pre-reg training in Poland and there was a meeting with Tesco representatives at our University in Krakow so I just thought "well, I'll go and see". I think the Tesco approach was different from the other companies because they didn't use recruitment companies but they spoke to us personally and the people who came there for the meeting were the people who took care for all our recruitment and the people who took care of us when we arrived in the UK as well.
First of all we came by plane, which was paid by Tesco, and then we stayed in a hotel for the training period, which also was partially paid for by Tesco. And during this first 12 weeks we had training - good structured training - together with the language course provided for the college pharmacists. I've got some friends working for other companies as well and compared to their experience, the Tesco advantage is the training, firstly because there's quite a big change to work in a different country, operating within different law, within a different range of medicines and Tesco training is the most well-structured - it does prepare you for what you're going to do.
At the moment, I am doing the training to provide the MUR services and I'm just waiting for it to be evaluated and sent back so I could do the interviews with the patients myself.
Tesco has developed a four-week summer vacation programme for the students and they can come over here and work in the pharmacy, have more experience based on serving the customers and have the experience of working in England, earn some money as well and learn to know how it's like in the UK.
Here in pharmacy the pharmaceutical code is applied. It is also the patient's attitude that they come more for advice then just the medication they take. My mentor is basically the pharmacy manager I work with and during the time of the training it was the tutor which was also the Pharmacy Manager in the store I was in. All the time the students that came together are in touch. We do meet occasionally when we've got some training down in Ponsbourne and apart from that we can always call each other from work.
So as I work within the pharmacy opening hours which is normally 8 till 8 - I usually work either the morning shift which is 8 till 5 or the afternoon which is like 1 till 8. The good things about holidays in Tesco working in pharmacy is that you can take them whenever you want - you just need to let them know when because they just hire locums that cover your shift. Well the difference between Tesco pharmacy in England and the pharmacy in Poland is first of all lack of a glass window which makes it more open and more friendly to the customer. The second thing is there is no "made medicines" - so you've got more time to consult the patient and to give him the advice.
The other thing is every medicine that goes out from the pharmacy is to be labelled with the name of the patient with the directions how to take it and it's double-checked which makes it more safer and makes less dispensing mistakes. The other thing is the position of the pharmacists in the pharmacy which is like the top position and all the team is working to help the pharmacists to provide the service appropriate. Oh and the last, but I think quite important difference, is that there is a consulting area in the pharmacy which is a separate room where you can take the patient to have a private talk with him.
About living in UK... I must say what amazes me is how friendly people are and they always react positively when I. well, they ask me where I'm from and I say I'm from Poland and they are happy you know to hear! They usually know where it is and either their or some of their friends been there already. Probably after a year looking back the best thing I'll get from this time here will be my professional development and the experience I gained here.
If you are wondering about working within a pharmacy in Great Britain - then think about a job in Tesco. During training I have received a great support and I have learnt a lot and I think anyone who has a chance like that should go for it and come here.
