Am I being unreasonable?

[Farnsfield]

I had a call today from a Social Services carer asking if we could pick up an elderly lady's incontinence pads from the surgery and deliver them once a fortnight along with her weekly MDS pack. I said no and suggested that maybe that was what carers were there for - her response was "it's not our responsibility".

I am now feeling guilty because it really wouldn't be any great hardship for us to do this and as a private individual I would have no problem with dropping a neighbour's incontinence pads off. However, I feel that my staff are being seen as a solution to a problem which should be addressed in another manner.

Am I being unreasonable?

[johnep]

You could tell her about the final straw which broke the donkey's back. As where I work is desparate for scripts, suspect we would do it on condition that the carer encouraged her pts to have their scripts dispensed by us.
johnep

[dizzyb23]

We regularly have requests from patients, carers, doctors etc for all types of weird and wonderful things and favours. I think that there comes a point when you have to draw the line. To actually say no to some requests does feel bad sometimes but where would it all end????

E.G. Elderly patient (with large and very mobile family) asks for her items to be delivered....no probs. I asked when she needed her stuff and she asked for the next delivery date......no probs. And then she asked if we would nip next door to Tescos and pick up bread, marmite (yuck), skimmed milk, tea bags and toilet rolls and drop them off with the meds. And she won't be in so can we put everything in her porch and she'll settle up with us next time????????????

So, where does it end.....

[hibernia]

I had a call today from a Social Services carer asking if we could pick up an elderly lady's incontinence pads from the surgery and deliver them once a fortnight along with her weekly MDS pack. I said no and suggested that maybe that was what carers were there for - her response was "it's not our responsibility".

Am I being unreasonable?

It isn't your responsibility either. This lady is not a member of your family or even your neighbour.

You are not being unreasonable.
What has happened is simple. You do MDS packs and deliveries and don't charge for them so they expect you to do something else for nothing and if you do that it will be someting else - dispose of the used incontinence pads maybe.

There is an old saying "live as a horse, get oats". You just refused the oats. That is not someting to feel guilty about.

[culchie82]

When I was doing my pre-reg year in Belfast a customer to whom we delivered meds, would regularly ring up and ask us to go in next door and find out the price of a white loaf. Needless to say we were often asked to deliver it as well, but the owner/delivery man refused to do so. Only in Ireland........

[lamzee]

I was in a place once, near Christmas, where an old lady asked us to deliver a selection of cuddly toys (pharmacy sold toys!) and change of a 20 quid note, so she could choose one for her hairdresser.

[JonF]

You are not being unreasonable at all.

We are constantly asked to deliver sample pots to patients and then back to surgery once filled.We were once asked by patient to collect a leaving present he'd got for one of the GP's. I politely explained that what the post office/royal mail was for.

Because someone once decided it was a 'good' idea to deliver Rx's for free, the general public think we will pick up and deliver things, whether pharmacy related or not, at their beck and call

[Sofia]

Definitively: NO way you should do that for a cust. Not negotiable. No way Jose. No No No. Many other better options for the lady.

[minime]

Absolutely not. Might seem like a simple request but what happens when you are on holiday/off sick/relief delivery person working? In my shop I inherited a lot of this type of thing. I quickly put a stop to all of them. Personally I am sick to death of bending over backwards for the surgery staff (always to make their life easier or rectify their mistakes)

[PtitpupUK]

Remember... in these days and age, unfortunately, if you give a hand to someone, they'll happily take your arm and whatever comes along with it...
And beware, if the lady runs out of incontinence pads because you forgot to get them organised (do you need to ask the surgery to get some ready for you? do you sometimes happen to have other things to worry about? Will another member of staff remember to deal with it if you're on holidays and the other person you deferred to before you left went off sick?) the carer will happily fall on your like a ton of bricks.
In this world where nothing is ever your responsibility and pass the buck is of the essence, remember that you only have two arms and one brain, and you cannot save the world.

In the end I mean if you're kind enough to agree, by all means do so. But I hope it won't bring you trouble.