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johnep
Moderator
Must have been a freudian slip.
johnep
Defender Of Pills
i suppose a key word to use here is 'signposting' - as long as you have told the patient the options they have in obtaining a timely supply of their medicine then in theory you shouldn't be held accountable for refusing an em supply. After all, if you direct them to gp/ooh/hospital and they refuse, they have to have a damn good reason for refusing, and most of the time can't be sued for those decisions.
A thought here would be to make sure you log it in your signposting/intervention log!
“It's not worth doing something unless you were doing something that someone, somewhere, would much rather you weren't doing.”
Terry Pratchett
Active Member
You lot should consider working in Scotland. For about five years now a PGD has existed where we have been able to write 'CPUS' prescriptions and supply POMs where the patient has run out of a regular repeat medicine(s) outwith surgery opening hours. Basically it's an emergency supply for which the pharmacist can write an NHS prescription and thus the patient is either exempt as normal, or pays the normal prescription charge. We can prescribe one, two or three months supply based on what the patient normally receives. We just need to subsequently inform the patient's GP of the supply (for their records) and let the patient know they need to order their script in time next time.
Trust me, this gets you out of a shedload of sticky situations at the weekend.
Active Member
Sadly I get the impression that we as pharmacists are much safer to break our ethical code than the law. I have not come across any cases where a pharmacist was reprimanded for not issuing an emergency supply or not helping, yet many have been reprimanded for illegal supplies. So i feel that the RPSGB wants to indirectly say to us to screw the code of ethics and obey the law at all costs!!!! If i am not right in my feeling someone please correct me as I will be interested to hear otherwise!
An beagle le dearcadh
Give one day of required medication, or two days on a Saturday. Charge for your services. Record supply. Ring GP next working day if you have to. It's always been this way. What's the problem?
Fleeg.
Thousand Plus Poster !!!
The fact that many pharmacists are unwilling to charge makes it very difficult for those who do (correctly) charge the customer. Also, some pharmacists are now supplying unnecessarily large quantities eg. 28 tablets when 1 tablet would be sufficient. This makes it difficult for pharmacists who (correctly) only supply enough medication to last the patient until they can obtain a prescription. Emergency supplies are not intended to be convenience supplies!Originally Posted by Fleegle
Pharmacists as a profession are a bunch of mugs. Wet, and excessively apologetic. We should be helpful and supportive to our customers but there is no need to behave like a door mat.
Newly registered in 1981
...or one phone call to head office and you are completely undermined with the customer is always right.
At least not any more - as I don't work for a corporate.
Where am I?; In the Pharmacy.
Who are you?; The new Number 2.
Who is number 1?; You are number 6.
What do you want?;..................
Thousand Plus Poster !!!
Sadly, that seems to happen frequently. The multiples would rather support an occasional customer than a pharmacist or staff member who works there five days a week.
With regard to Emergency Supplies however, several large multiples state within their SOPs that loans are not permitted under any circumstances.
An beagle le dearcadh
Pretty much says it all, Bobbin. I fully agree...there's not many of the real guys left, unfortunately...
Frequent Poster
Even though I am a student of pharmacy, reading the PJ is enough to make me depressed every week! Every week it talks directly or indirectly how bleak the future of pharmacy is....starting with for example this week about how the PCT will restrict funding etc.
The question is - has it always been like this? (over the last 20 years)
How come a pharmacist never go on a strike and will pharmacists ever go on a nationwide strike in protest of decreased funding etc? Surely as a profession, we are powerful enough to do something drastic such as a strike? If GPs can get away getting a contract in excess of 120K a year, surely we can do something to get in excess of lets say 80K a year.
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