Generics/Branded products

[johnep]

The reason why loans are made rather than ES is because ES costs, whereas loans are Free.

Many times I have prepared to make an ES and the patient repeats the mantra 'Oh I don't pay'.

johnep

[Pharmanaut]

Originally Posted by johnep

The reason why loans are made rather than ES is because ES costs, whereas loans are Free.

Many times I have prepared to make an ES and the patient repeats the mantra 'Oh I don't pay'.

johnep

If you make a dispensing mistake on a loan....

[SolomonQ]

Originally Posted by johnep

The reason why loans are made rather than ES is because ES costs, whereas loans are Free.

Many times I have prepared to make an ES and the patient repeats the mantra 'Oh I don't pay'.

johnep

ofcourse, that is the reason, but I find the best way around this would be for the patient to pay while collecting the ES, and when they come back next time with the Rx or you recieve it, you will take off the tablets you gave out and refund the ES cost, thats the fairest way,

..by loaning for nothing, pharmacies sell themselves short, and abviously the patient will expect that everytime, and with most patients you will find, if you oan them tablets a few times and then charge them, chances are they will get pi***d off anyway and go to a different pharmacy, so all the favours you did for the patient via the loans etc.. will go down the toilet.

Also consider, what if the patient gets the Rx and then goes and get it dispensed e.g. from a pharmacy next door to the surgery and then comes back to you with a strip of tablets to return the tablets you loaned them.

also i'm sure everyone knows, there is no obligation to charge for an emergency supply, so if the patient is that important, make an emergency supply, record it etc... but dont charge the patient, if it's like atenolol 25mg etc... these cost pittance anyway, so all you would lose out of is like 10-15p.

[johnep]

Pt concerned on way to Norfolk to live and not yet registered with Dr no way would we get a script.

Regret after many years in business something free is something not valued, if you make a charity of your business you will soon go broke.
johnep

[Sir_Dispensalot]

Originally Posted by SolomonQ

ofcourse, that is the reason, but I find the best way around this would be for the patient to pay while collecting the ES, and when they come back next time with the Rx or you recieve it, you will take off the tablets you gave out and refund the ES cost, thats the fairest way,

.

i agree about the fairness of things solly - it is a 'fair' way to do things however doing an ES the way you describe is actually classed as defrauding the NHS. Several pharmacists have been prosecuted for doing this.

The patient should be charged - after all, in john's situation the patient was daft enough to not bring an inhaler with enough in with them and daft enough not to get on a waiting list for a surgery as soon as they knew when they were moving.

as someone else has said in the past 'an oversight on your behalf doesn not constitute an emergency on our behalf.'#
and quite rightly, if someone's taking the piss with the ES service then we should deny them their meds.

[SolomonQ]

Sir D, how would that be defrauding the NHS? dont quite grasp that, You charge the patient, but then refund them after you get the Rx, also the patient would get the exact number of tablets that were on the Rx at the end, it could be recorded in the ES register like normal, and there is no need to record the charge that was made.

but even if it was defrauding the NHS, would that be worse than loaning a POM, like it was done by John twice previously, which is in breach of the medicines act.

if someone's taking the piss with the ES service then we should deny them their meds.

erm depends on the situation, ES means just that, ES. So i ant see how one would be able to deny someone meds in an emergency. Also try this in a multiple and hope you regional manager etc... doesn't find out, they wouldn't look favourably on it, especially if they are non-pharmacists.

[Pharmanaut]

Originally Posted by SolomonQ

erm depends on the situation

What is ERM?

Emergency Requisition of Medication?

[Steve G]

Solly, I don't see how your method of charging for an ES then refunding and deducting quantity from Rx is different to a loan?

[Sir_Dispensalot]

i classify 'taking the piss' as those repeat ES users - you know the kind. come in every month for an ES of something eg ventolin. they need to get their act together and go to the bloody gp instead of abusing the ES legislation.

http://www.rpsgb.org.uk/pdfs/LEBemergsupplies.pdf

top of the second page in the pdf.

[pharmatron]

Society guidance says that it is ok to make an emergency supply, and then to deduct the quantity of the emergency supply from the quantity ordered on the prescription. Obviously, all the relevant entries in the prescription register must be made.

In such cases it is up to the pharmacist to decide whether to charge for the emergency supply, or make a charge and refund it on production of the prescription.

See Lynsey Balmer's (Head of Professional Ethics at RPSGB) response in the PJ (Vol 275; No 7360; p138; 30 July 2005): (PJ Online | PJ Letters | Emergency supplies)