Hutchins 197 High Road, Loughton IG10 4LF

"Incredibly helpful pharmacy, went above & beyond to get the medication I needed. Would highly recommend."

"Twice been told they don't have my meds when I've gone to collect. No phone call to advise or anything of the sort. Was told to phone doc and get different meds!"

"Horrid horrid horrid staff. Aggressive, intimidating and unacceptable behaviour. Especially as a woman with a baby, the pharmacist and his staff were disgusting in their attitude towards me. Even after they made me cry, they continued to behave aggressively. What has happened to customer service or general polite behaviour. They have no idea how to behave."

"I have moved to this area recently, so I chose this pharmacy as my nominated pharmacy. As I have A LOT of repeat prescriptions, I have an NHS prepayment certificate. So when I ordered my first repeat here, I called in and gave my certificate number, start date and end date. As the NHS is saving money, they don’t issue PPC plastic cards anymore to carry in your wallet. Today I went to pick up some of my due repeats and a new prescription from the GP (which was an alternative to a repeat which was out of stock). This had already delayed me starting this treatment by 2 days. When I went to pick up my medications, the staff member who spoke to me was quite abrupt with his questioning. I explained all the above and he went to look for my medications and found the one which had been out of stock (that was very kind that they found the stock from somewhere). He told me today’s GP prescription was out of stock. He then asked me proof of my prepayment certificate. I said I had called in to give the number. He expected me to remember my number, start date and end date. I was a bit baffled and that made me embarrassed and almost made me feel like I had done something terribly wrong. He said you must have it in your email. But I knew the NHS PPC service do not email me. But I still checked. Then I logged in to my bank app and showed him the payments for the PPC. He said that says NHS. I got the impression he didn’t believe me. I said I can bring it tomorrow. By this time I was so upset, I actually wanted to leave. I asked him about my other due repeats. He went to look for them appearing quite annoyed. I then told the other member of staff that I will go home and collect my certificate and come back for the other medications. So I went home, came back and picked up my repeats. I have never felt so embarrassed in my whole life. Why did he have to make me feel so belittled? I had given the details before so it was not my fault they’d lost them and then again WHO remembers their preprescription payment certificate number by heart as well as the end and start date? I certainly don’t. I have now uploaded it as a PDF file to show them every time I go in. Better still once I pick up my acute prescription I’m likely to switch my nominated pharmacy. We are patients and humans. Those coming for the service have health issues. The least you can do is speak to them with compassion and empathy rather than make them feel little. I rarely post reviews and I always post positive reviews. So this review was hard to post for me. Please see the bigger picture. Some nice words from you maybe the only nice moment in some people’s lives who are suffering with chronic medical conditions."

"Really poor customer service & never open to their full published hours. Many times I’ve left work early to rush to this pharmacy before it closes at 6pm, to find they have shut when I arrive at 5:45. During these Covid times they can’t even be bothered to manage the queues for post office & pharmacy by putting up signs for separate queues. They also have front & back doors but haven’t bothered to put up signs for in & out to make it one way. Never helpful or friendly. Where possible I avoid this place & travel further to pick up prescriptions. As my nearest post office & pharmacy I sadly can’t avoid it completely."