Get the correct patient!

[admin]

Linnear

You're not a b*stard - I really like ya ! Your posts are always really funny and often make me laugh out loud! I wanna read one of yer books!

[admin]

Wow! Some day. I did over 40 years retail pharmacy before retiring and I never had a string of errors like that.
Surely someone is a danger to the public here?

Norcot

I'm not sure if he is or not. I feel it's not for me to say. The supers office was contacted etc via the area manager, so unless they need me as a witness that's me out of it for now.

When it comes to dobbing someone in, it would have to something really bad for me to do it. I just don't like the idea of me being responsible for trying to take away a persons living. They might end up committing suicide and then how would I feel.

[admin]

Good locum then huh?

I heard today that one in three workers turn to drink for stress! Only 1 in 3 I was shocked! Would ahve thought much more than that!


My run in with a PCT was due to a pharmacist giving the wrong Rx to a patient. Trouble was it was for MST!

The patient that should have had it came back for it and of course was told she'd already had it and the Dr accused her of being an addict!

I was at the shop when the PCT rang to find out what was going on and the PCT woman started shouting at the dispenser! I spoke to her and asked why she wasn't having a go at the pharmacist or even area manager as it was a CD error. Her tone changed as she knew that she was in the wrong. I sorted the error got the Rx picked up and sent to the right person, reported the error to Head Office and apologised. The PCT woman then reported me for not taking the complaint seriously enough.

I then wrote a letter of apology which apparently didn't help! I can be twice as big a b*stard when I'm apologising as when I'm being abusive!

And that's how my anti-PCT vendetta was born!

You seem to get reported a lot Linnear, why? I think I know the answer................

[Linnear]

You seem to get reported a lot Linnear, why? I think I know the answer................

I don't know what you mean

[Zoggite]

I've done that too... and Mrs W., who isn't diabetic, swallowed 6 of Mr v.'s Novonorm tablets before her daughter found her on the kitchen floor in a hypoglycaemic coma; Panicking, she 'phoned the number on the drug label,and for some reason I answered it, even though I was closed for lunch; As soon as she told me what was on the label I understood what had happened (although not how), and I was able to reassure the daughter about what to do next, what to tell the ambulance crew who were on their way, and that everything would be OK.After 3 days in hospital the patient made a full recovery, we wrote an incident form, followed all the procedures, grovelled and apologised, got her a bunch of flowers, and never attempted to pass the buck or cover anything up; for this both the patient and her daughter were very grateful and four years on are still customers, and we always get choccies and a card off them at Xmas...
So I guess my advice is: be honest and helpful, you can't undo a mistake, you can only make it worse!

[admin]

I've done that too... and Mrs W., who isn't diabetic, swallowed 6 of Mr v.'s Novonorm tablets before her daughter found her on the kitchen floor in a hypoglycaemic coma; Panicking, she 'phoned the number on the drug label,and for some reason I answered it, even though I was closed for lunch; As soon as she told me what was on the label I understood what had happened (although not how), and I was able to reassure the daughter about what to do next, what to tell the ambulance crew who were on their way, and that everything would be OK.After 3 days in hospital the patient made a full recovery, we wrote an incident form, followed all the procedures, grovelled and apologised, got her a bunch of flowers, and never attempted to pass the buck or cover anything up; for this both the patient and her daughter were very grateful and four years on are still customers, and we always get choccies and a card off them at Xmas...
So I guess my advice is: be honest and helpful, you can't undo a mistake, you can only make it worse!

Was it your mistake? Did she accept the script when you called it out, or did you hand them to her accidently? Did you get the customers mixed up?

The guy I wrote about got no trouble for what happened. I don't think it was reported outside the company, and the old guy was confused so I don't think he would have put in a complaint anyway.

[Zoggite]

it was handed out on a busy august saturday afternoon, in a noisy shop, by a 17-year-old summer student-cum-saturday girl, i.e. temporary, barely qualified staff, to an elderly patient with hearing impediment whose mother tongue isn't English (or Welsh) and who just said "yes" to anything she was asked...
I suppose it wasn't really "MY" mistake, but as I was the only pharmacist on the premises, it was still my little neck on the block, I should have had the necessary procedures in place to prevent this sort of incident ever occurring...
My superintendent's recommendation was:
"When a patient asks for their prescription, hand them a pad & pen and ask them to write down their name and address, then go to the scripts shelf and find the matching bag; then, when you get back to the counter, you'll know you've got the right bag for the right patient"
Words failed me...

[Linnear]

My superintendent's recommendation was:
"When a patient asks for their prescription, hand them a pad & pen and ask them to write down their name and address, then go to the scripts shelf and find the matching bag; then, when you get back to the counter, you'll know you've got the right bag for the right patient"
Words failed me...

How about fingerprint analysis. An expert can do that in under an hour!

DNA match?

Seriously, If I ever catch any staff I work with reading out an address I point out that people will say yes to anything.

I regularly get people who respond to the question, "Your address is?"

with "Yes!"

The other ones that really annoy me are in order of narkiness:

1. Juniors. Get over it arsehole you're not that brilliant that we need another one of you! Give your kid another name

2. Double barrelled names. Or rather the people that let you look for twenty minutes unsuccessfully and then say "Oh! It's double-barrelled it might be under ...."

3. People who don;t use their real name. "What was the first name?" "Betty" Look for twenty minutes check computer then ask again. "It's definitely Betty?" "Yes, it won't be under anything else. Unless it might be under Grace. That's my name really."


The best of it is if they do get the wrong RX it's always our bloody fault!

[admin]

"When a patient asks for their prescription, hand them a pad & pen and ask them to write down their name and address, then go to the scripts shelf and find the matching bag; then, when you get back to the counter, you'll know you've got the right bag for the right patient"
Words failed me...

Most customers are too old to write! How the hell can you do that?

[Zoggite]

Most customers are too old to write! How the hell can you do that?
(

...Or they haven't got their glasses...
Besides, by the time you've come back to the counter with their bag, they've wandered off into the shop again, and you still end up calling out their name and hoping they respond, so you're back to square one!
One holidaymaker's address on the script was down as "caravan E14, Camp site next to Bargain Booze"...