anyone notice the report in the press of poor devil being threatened with jail because patient given propranolol (suspect instead of prednisolone but not sure)....
you would have thought that there would have been an objective report in the pj about this one as the prosection is not being brought by the society and the headline was the usula sensationalist stuff.
is the society supporting the pharmacist in her hour of need??? i hope i am wrong but i doubt it..
i hope that issues of workload, handwriting?? etc are brought into the open.
if the poor devil goes to prison i for one will be seeking an increase in locum fees to reflect the fact that we now have an army of pen pusher wanting to put us in court.
Somewhere near hell but not that far away from heaven
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Re: dispensing error report in press
What annoys me is the media only ever portray one side of the story. There is no mention as to whether the prescription was hand written or printed. I've seen some pretty bad hand written ones in my time, and yes I know if in doubt 'phone the prescribing doctor. One time it took us a week to query something prescribed by a hospital doctor, luckily the patient was understanding.
Multiples putting pressure on staff, pressure to work faster than the speed of light, customers wanting to shoot in and out of the shop under 2 mins...the list is endless
Clinical appropriateness and accuracy are paramount .A pharmacist can get done for both
1.Dexamethasone case
2.This unfortunate case.
The dispensing role has been cheapened by contractors wanting increased volume at any cost, what about quality
Its a sad sad day for pharmacy particularly p'cists as this case amongst others highlights just how vunerable we are and just how important the now "trivialised" dispensing role is.
As for remote supervision, the jury's still out, personally If p'cists are to carry the can, I ain't going nowhere
It is time that the RPSGB intervene and take some measures to protect pharmacists from the huge pressure and stress put on them by their employers. The society needs to address the long daily hours pharmacists do, standing up on their feet all day concentrating on checking hundreds of medicines clinically and for accuracy.
Other pressures such as MURs. The society should ask employers to get a second pharmacist (e.g. a locum) to cover the dispensary while the other pharmacist is conducting MURs, this could be done as a session weekly(booking few patients on a specific day of the week).
Unfortunately our society just tell us what we must do, but never think of what our employers must do to ease pressure put on us
Can't imagine anyone giving a CD (I know Oramorph isn't, but it's usually treated as such) to a child, though.
Did once give a CD to a patient (adult) instead of non CD. Many, many years ago, when newly qualified. Dromoran (analgesic) for Dramamine (anti-nauseant). Handwritten Rx, GP's handwriting appalling, and GP had, by time Rx was presented, gone home.
Carefully questioned patient, told that he was suffering severe gut pain. Decided on analgesic. Checked with GP again next day. No, s/b anti-nauseant.
Round to house, apologise, explain, replace. Endorse CD register.
Two days later patient came in again. Could he have the original medication? That had worked for pain, prescribed one hadn't!
Fined £2k by a magistrates court even though the inquest said the error "had not played a part" in the death of the patient, and only after the court case do the Society get their hands on it? What on earth?
Yes..usual course of events I'm afraid. Lambeth will now cry "havoc" and let slip their legal pit-bulls in order to save face, and the girls will be hit again, this time by the people whose wages they pay. Class act isn't it? In recent stat-com cases, however, the presiding "judge" has recognised the possibility of a double-jeopardy case arising, and has dealt with it accordingly. The legal fees for the pharmacist are often crippling though, as it appears that they require to defend what essentially is the same case twice.
Last edited by Fleegle; 31st, October 2008 at 10:16 PM.
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Re: dispensing error report in press
