pharmacist

pharmacy manager

telemarketer

client advisor

manager

Well

Whilst the individual teams of dispensers, technicians and pharmacists in each store are wonderful, the company has a dreadful work ethic which runs staff members into the ground. Every store is desperately understaffed, with managers forcing lone working and at times working 50 hour weeks. In more recent months, staff have been informed that there is no capacity for staff to be paid overtime despite many working a significant number of hours over their base contract, with overtime having to be taken on lieu (but managers refusing to let staff take time in lieu as there are not enough staff in each branch to cover the working hours!) HR and payroll were also problematic, with incorrectly processed pay checks, late payments, difficult reaching them. During my time in the company, the safety of patients and staff was a huge concern which constantly fell on deaf ears when raised with management. Staff are frequently off ill due to stress; keeping a pharmacy ticking over on skeleton staff with area and regional managers who are unsupportive; having blood pressure, turnover, and vaccination targets shoved down your throat and consequently facing irate or upset customers (understandably) is incredibly demanding. The safety of patients is a huge concern (and the impossible situation the company is placing on staff which is in turn compromising this). Most pharmacies run on locum pharmacists which is further pushing problems in the stores due to a lack of continuity. Understandably, many locum pharmacists do not want to return to Well stores after comprehending the situation they find there, but equally Well do not encourage talented pharmacists to stay. There is a strong culture of them and us between staff in the stores and management, with a lack of trust and mutual respect between them two; even issues between area and regional managers (and higher up) are well known to all staff which completely undermines the integrity of the managerial system. The hiring process of new staff members has also caused issues; understandably onboarding new staff members to alleviate staffing pressures is a priority but the training and suitability of individuals for roles is totally overlooked. Moreover, staff who have worked for the company for years (well before the days of Well Pharmacy) do not receive any recognition from the company and are constantly overlooked for promotions or new training opportunities. Long serving and talented staff who apply for promotions have been turned down with no explanation, only for untrained and unqualified outside individuals to be hired. Staff who go above and beyond are never recognised for their hard work and dedication, with managers often making hollow promises of extra hours on a contract to simply retract them (but then expect them to continue working these extra hours). The culture of high demand, high pressure, low support and no recognition has been crushing to so many staff causing an incredibly high turnover. Without a doubt though, there are many talented individuals both in stores and at managerial levels, but the company do not foster an environment to support everyone and create cohesion. Staff wellbeing patient safety, and protocols are compromised for profit.

Well always felt like a company with great ambitions, hamstrung by amateur mentalities throughout the company. Money poured into departments who don't need it, and the stripping of resource and money from pharmacy branches who legitimately need as much help as they can get - being the actual backbone of the company. Why recruit several people into a dept. like Comms who do nothing but self-congratulate about the non-achievements of the corporate few, whilst the actual people who work their arses off get no actual support which alleviates the stress they feel on a day-to-day basis? Actually utilise that money to achieve better, tangible results for the pharmacy staff and for people who work within areas that affect pharmacy's directly (warehouse staff, IT, branch support).  

They go through restructures every other few months to be rid of people they don't like, or don't fit the mentality (see: people who don't like overtime, or management for their personality defects). Don't believe for a second you have job security at this place. Well is not above the pantomime of a restructure to deal with an employee who would benefit from actual decent man-management. 

They're hamstrung by policy and process that they say they want to be challenged, however you'll find your criticisms usually falling on deaf ears - explained away with management guff that means somebody doesn't need to put the effort in.

Well does offer decent pay for the job you're doing and there's always an opportunity open in another department that might take your fancy. Unless a restructure opens up a job for you that you actually want to progress into, i.e. HR Analyst or something to HR Management / Team Lead, you'll be waiting on dead mans shoes most times to get the job you want. Training is mainly in-house, so nothing you can actually put on the CV afterwards that's worth shouting out about.

Well is a decent place to 'learn your trade' and then walk after 2-5 years. Don't think it's worth making a career here. It is a far cry from the nourishing environment the Co-operative encouraged and the people who will tell you otherwise have taken a serious drink from the corporate koolaid and need to actually assess why the vast majority of reviews on here are negative. It's a company massively affected by a "small company mentality", they try to operate as lean as possible and refuse to pour money into problem areas until the problem becomes too great to ignore... then a restructure happens... then people are removed... and no actual correlation between "why are people unhappy" and "what happens if we don't adequately fund this department" seems to be established.

Please think before applying ive been at well for 8 weeks now ive been pushed out ... in my 3rd week i had a stomach bug so couldnt go in i only had 1 day off as luckily it fell on a friday so i had all weekend to get over it . In my 7th week my 3 year old daughter had to go to the doctors she had high tempreture no energy the outcome was awful , luckily the next day was my day off .i went back to work and got told if i have another day off they will take action .its appauling behaviour . You only get 3 seperate sick days then your out really ,well my children come first i went back in like normal the following week took another turn my partner was diagnosed with swine flu we had the paramedics out and basically i was 3 minuits late and yes in the moment of the the paramedics coming and having to leave my poorly partner i forgot to change into my work trousers i had smart jeggings on with my well tunic top  my manager gave me the most disgusted look started having a go infront of everyone then decided to take me in the back asking me why im wearing jeans not allowed to wear them them i tried explaining whats happened at home she wasnt interested just stood there staring me down making me feel so belittled im a 30 year old she made me feel 10 again .she then took me into the consultation room where she asked why i was late then continued with the jeans even though she wears them she stood there shaking her head hanf on hip tutting i felt like leaving there but i didnt i stayed done my shift. that was it i was done please dont work for this company i was totally led into a faulse sence of security she seemed so lovely but when it comes to real issues the company doesnt want to know its all about targets they treat you like a number basically they will hire anyone

Handling heavy workloads due to chronic understaffing is a common experience at Well Pharmacy, leading to potential burnout and exhaustion among team members.

In instances where the  regular responsible pharmacist was absent, inadequately trained pharmacy assistants were occasionally placed in charge alongside locums, raising concerns about overall responsibility and safety and placing undue pressure on staff members.

Employees often face noticeable pressure to engage in overtime and assist in other branches, highlighting the company's struggle to address chronic understaffing issues. This situation creates a scenario where employees may feel coerced into sacrificing personal time for operational gaps.

Communication challenges were apparent, particularly in messages from management regarding company transfers. Despite dedicating time and adjusting personal plans with the hope of transferring to another Well branch, the reality differed from the initial promises.

Dedicated efforts to ensure smooth pharmacy operations, often extending beyond the job description, went unrecognised. It's disheartening that commitment and hard work did not translate into meaningful recognition from management.

In conclusion, my experiences at Well Pharmacy lead me to believe that systemic issues need attention, including chronic understaffing, communication challenges and a lack of recognition for dedicated staff. It's essential for potential employees to carefully consider these factors before committing to a role at Well Pharmacy.

It is difficult to even know where to start with this review and I could literally go on for hours with my negative experiences at the organisation but I will be as succinct as possible. You get badgered by Area Managers to hit targets, and if you do not hit them you get threatened with disciplinary. Some targets are unrealistic and are calculated by the number of items you do, I do not know who does these calculations but whoever it is they have obviously never worked in a dispensary, but Management do not care in what you have to say. There was never enough staffing for the workload we did. You hear the same shpiel from every Area Manager so it is obvious they read from the same script. They make out as if its is not to do with profit when it obviously is so there are copious amounts of lies told to you each time. Any good suggestion they claim as their own when they go to their bosses. It is a factory rolling out prescriptions, but they mask it as if it is to do with patient care. One instance I remember when we had a few elderly patients pass away in the same week, who were on blister packs and on a lot of medications, we were upset that week and when the Area Manager came in and asked why items were down, I said about the patients who had passed away, the only thing the so-called Area Manager asked was "what have you done about it?" (In terms of recouping the lost items). I am so happy I am now in an actual Clinical role using what I learnt at University, with the support network to gain further qualifications etc and that I am not just a number in a business

Well has been BY FAR, the worst company I have ever worked for. In less than a year, I had a total of four line managers, experienced significant disorganisation and poor management of the covid-19 pandemic, where staff were given a mere two packets of paracetamol and a promise of sanitiser which never arrived. No PPE for months, no social distancing or restrictions implemented with the continuing transfer of staff between branches. Constant 'restructuring' to save money, resulting in many being demoted, made redundant, or being forced to reduce their hours. Have witnessed blackmailing of staff in relation to these changes, where a member of staff was forced into a situation where if not accepted, colleagues would suffer loss of hours and money. Regional managers are power-hungry and threatening to subordinate staff, and area managers and mindless lead of the seniors instructions. Heavily understaffed in all branches due to staff 'jumping ship' due to unhappiness. Number of pharmacies without a regular pharmacist or staff due to resignations which cannot be filled due to company's poor reputation, with some branches being without regular staff for over one year. Recent redundancies being made of non-pharmacist managers has furthered the significantly low morale of remaining staff within the area. Certainly a company which does not respect or care about their staff on the front line. 

Having worked for Well for a year, i realise it has been one year too long. The "managers" fail to manage even the simplest of tasks. They are selfish, unreliable, and really poor at their job. The number of times they are supposed to be somewhere and they just dont show up is countless. When they do show up on the rare occasion, they avoid doing the job they are there to do. They have no concept of time management. They line their own back pockets and reap the benefits of all the under paid staffs hard work. I have been done out of money now TWICE because the hr team are incompetent fools. They changed the pay cycle, and changed it back in the space of eleven days, which resulted in all the staff over paying tax and insurance, then the company took money off of our wages to counteract their mess and fix their payroll, so it looked like we had never had the change of pay. They are always working understaffed, because the staff they currently have are over worked, under paid and totally unappreciated, so everyone who has the chance to leave, does.  They have only just introduced a bonus scheme, but are  manipulating it so most shops don't actually see any of the bonus.
DO NOT WORK FOR WELL, THEY ARE SCAMMERS . also, none of the RDMs have any pharmacy experience, they come from general retail backgrounds, and try to run a pharmacy. They have no clue.

I worked for these clowns for five years and despite all the gossiping amongst some staff members - who quite frankly had the upper hand by lodging their heads up managements backsides - I kept my head down, got the work done and went home.

I rarely had time off but on the two occasions - one being for an operation - I was pressured to come back to work after 1 WEEK when I should of been on bed rest for 6. The second occasion I couldn't handle the bullying tactics of management and my mental health declined rapidly. Regardless of making management aware, they continued to grind me down, make me feel inadequate, threaten me with diciplinaries, and had no compassion whatsoever.

 I would be bombarded with text messages about work past midnight from the manager and this became a regular occurance. My doctor was so angry after everything she saw that she felt the need to call the manager and HR to report the harassment and of course nothing was ever done. 

Luckily for me I found a new job and left with a day's notice, they didn't deserve a working notice from me. And yet I didn't even get a single call to question why I left so abruptly. I was just another quiet cover-up brushed under the carpet.

Well pharmacy really need to reconsider vouching for mental health awareness, as they lack the skills and compassion to communicate with employees who are suffering under their dictatorship. Staff and patients are just the money makers and nothing more.

The low average rating is there for a reason. Take the time to read the negative feedback on here because they echo a lot of Well employee experiences.

Positive, healthy working environment free of bullying and harassment? 
Feeling valued and respected?
Encouraged to learn and develop?
Trusted to get on with work without being micromanaged by colleagues?
None of these things, unfortunately exist at this store.

Do you enjoy being discouraged from learning anything or asking your customers' questions? Do you enjoy being made to do all the menial tasks every shift with no learning opportunities or the chance to try anything else? Do you enjoy having everything you do called into question and scrutinised to the nth degree to the point of making you physically and/or mentally unwell? Do you enjoy not feeling like you can talk to anyone about your concerns because the area manager is never available or doesnt stay in post long enough to be contacted? Then you'll love being a Well employee. 

If you value your mental wellbeing then do not take up a position here. Toxic and stressful environment with no opportunity for progression. How many good colleagues have to leave this store before anything changes? 


What is the best part of working at the company?
Building a rapport with the regular patients. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Being under staffed, caused more stress as there is not enough staff to get the job done. The lack of support when it came to training and the pressure to perform well after a couple hours training was ridiculous. Being told by the supervisor that if I wasn’t quick enough at labelling, I wouldn’t be able to go on that section and could only go on the front or make prescriptions up. 
The fact I had to do my online training at home, yet the supervisor could take herself off into the staff room to do her level 3 training was a joke. 
Only one person allowed off at a time for holiday because we are too understaffed was ridiculous as well. 
Not a great place to work at all in my opinion, hearing staff including the supervisor whispering amongst themselves made me feel uneasy and uncomfortable as you didn’t know what they were talking about! 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Way too stressful, always felt under pressure and the morale was very poor. Took me a while to get used to things but still felt like every time I asked a question the other staff members would be feeling fed up. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Busy and very stressful, don’t get paid enough for the stress that comes with the job.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Pharmacist 300 salaries reported	£25.08 per hour
Pharmacy manager 2 salaries reported	£46,546 per year
Telemarketer 10 salaries reported	£23,550 per year
Client advisor 9 salaries reported	£18,378 per year
Manager 3 salaries reported	£41,667 per year

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