Let me explain the process a bit here. The place is only open from 8-1:30. You go in, grab a number and then find a place to hang out. (My preference is to avoid waiting inside, as the room is filled with people who are 70+, smell like moth balls at best and bad breath and B.O. at worst. Seriously, moth balls.) You wait until your number comes up, take your book (used for all prescriptions) to the pharmacist and then pay the cashier. Seems easy.
I got there at 9:15 last Wednesday knowing that at some point, depending upon the flow of the day, they stop giving out the numbers (today they stopped at 9:30). They were on 73 and I had 146. Yikes. Having sat for an hour and realizing how infernally slow the numbers were passing, I decided to hop back on the Metro and go further downtown to do some other errands. Returning an hour later (2 hours total having elapsed since my arrival), they were only at 103. Better dig in and relax. After nearly 5 hours of waiting, my number was up, only for me to find out that 1 of the 2 prescriptions I was there to fill (the one that I specifically go to that pharmacy for) could not actually be filled because it was more than 5 days old. Are you kidding me? 5 hours and I have to come back?!
Two days later, I got the prescription re-written and headed back down this morning. This time, I pulled my number at 8:05am. The room was already full and my number was 40 away from that currently being served. There's no winning. From listening in on some conversations, I get the gist that people start gathering around the door as early as 7:30 to get in. There must be 30 people waiting when the doors open, and if you've read my post about queing you'll know that it can't be a pretty scene. This time, instead of waiting around, I immediately headed for a cafe across the street for a cheese pie and coffee to enjoy while I read my book. (For this visit, I should have brought a second book, since I wasn't called up till 11:15 or so.) All of this only to find out that of the 3 drugs listed in this prescription, one is not in stock. Good lord. So I have to go back, hopefully on Friday, to pick it up. The only good news here is that I don't have to take a number but will be able to go straight to the cashier.
As with most interactions one has with the general public, patience is the key. Being prepared for the interminable wait is the key in avoiding homicide charges - or at least yelling at your fellow man. I have found that being an observer in this room of elderly and generally disgruntled population can be amusing once the attitudes start to simmer. I am surprised betting pools haven't started, with all the statistics I hear in conversations: "20 minutes for one number?", "6 people in one hour? We'll be here until 3 o'clock!" The poor pharmacists, it's not their fault that there are only two of them working. They plug away, staying relatively cheerful, ensuring that prescriptions are not messed up due to hurrying. Do those waiting recognize that? God no. Each of the 3 times I've been there, there is always someone heckling them to work faster. Then, invariably there is someone who's showed up after the numbers have been stopped, begging for special treatment because they are sick. Everyone in the rooms looks to be at death's door and there is no sympathy to be had from the "chorus" of waiting customers. You are likely to get harassed for just hanging out and hoping for the best. And god forbid you bring in more than one prescription book! A man today was getting prescriptions filled for himself, his wife, and granddaughter. What seems to me good time management and family support is just considered downright greedy and inconsiderate by everyone else. They were still haranguing him after he apologized to the room (more than I would have done!). Really, if both Vasilis and I need a prescription filled they expect us both to come down? Evidently.
Insanity.
Major props to one particular soldier/pharmacy employee who handles all the complaints in a fully professional manner. And he does this every day. Two days in one week of that atmosphere is plenty for me. Maybe I'll make Vasilis pick my stuff up on Friday!
Were it not for this particular drug, I wouldn't even go there - but I really feel for the people that have to. You can get prescriptions filled at the neighborhood pharmacies, but you'll end up paying much more. For those in the military branches, it is much easier to go to the respective hospital pharmacy as you are charged such a low amount. What worries me is that, after I have started my job, I'll soon be entered into the rolls of the public healthcare system and then have to learn the steps required for them. At least I know what I am dealing with now, even though a 1/2 day is usually called for to complete the task!
Side note: There is no "dropping off" of a prescription and then coming back at a later time once it is filled. Actually, you don't really get personalized prescription bottles as in the U.S. You simply get prepackaged boxes of the drug, sometimes requiring you to purchase a few more than you were actually prescribed.
