Nearly in a Punch up!

[Tony Schofield]

Erm...........

I think you can have sex with customers but not patients!

[Sir_Dispensalot]

as long as it's not on the shop floor!

[DavidS]

Ouch!

Don't worry Tony, no-one here would believe that anyone could refuse to have sex with you. I'm not sure you would have the time, and I've heard that you ex takes all your money, but even so....

... and soon we'll have an additional two hours a day!

[castle606]

id like to offer a veiw from the other side. ive been battling chemical addiction for almost 12 years now and have had a script(on +off) for almost as long. its really hard and depressing. my own fault i know but ive never been rude to a member of staff at a chemists. just not my nature. its in my interests to keep the staff onside as well. its just so demoralizing to hear so many people sterotyping and demonising addicts. were just like the population at large. some nice, some not,to varying degrees. ive seen staff getting it from addicts before and ive stepped in twice i believe. id just wish people would realise drug addicts are our brothers, sisters and children. when people are in the grip of addiction they are not themselves, im not shifting the blame. its a fact, like the sun. ive read so mmuch on this topic and not once read anything about understanding and most certainly not support. but i guess living such perfect and unquestioning lives takes a lot out of you, to the point you could'nt put yourselves in the shoes of those on the other side, even for a minute.

[DavidS]

. ive read so mmuch on this topic and not once read anything about understanding and most certainly not support. but i guess living such perfect and unquestioning lives takes a lot out of you, to the point you could'nt put yourselves in the shoes of those on the other side, even for a minute.

It's true, we often come on here to have a moan.

But let me tell you how it is on "the other side." We exist in a stressful environment where one mistake missed might mean harm to a patient, if not the end of our careers. While trying to make sure that this doesn't happen, we are frequently disturbed and distracted by customers in person and on the phone, and this adds to the stress, and extra stress adds to the chances of mistakes occurring.

Most of the addicts I deal with, methadone or diamorphine, I'm talking about, are polite and chatty. However when stressful things happen, like the script having run out, or them missing their due day or time, even they can become emotional and angry very quickly. I am willing to believe that this is not intended to be aggressive in the vast majority of cases, but it is always stressful to the pharmacy staff. And extra stress we don't need for the reasons outlined above.

Some addicts are violent and indulge in shoplifting and drunken behaviour: they will find it difficult to get their supplies from any of us. We just don't need it.

[Pharmanaut]

Stop and think...
Is getting very angry very quickly, being threatening, in-your-face aggressive the right stimulus to get the best response from people who will try to help you?

Get a grip.
Confucius says : You will catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

[bobbin]

ive read so mmuch on this topic and not once read anything about understanding and most certainly not support.

David is quite right - we do often come on here to have a moan....... and there is plenty to moan about, believe me! It's unfortunate that there haven't been more understanding posts on this thread......... but to be fair, this isn't a support group. A lot of pharmacists come on here to let off steam.

[dizzyb23]

id like to offer a veiw from the other side. ive been battling chemical addiction for almost 12 years now and have had a script(on +off) for almost as long. its really hard and depressing. my own fault i know but ive never been rude to a member of staff at a chemists. just not my nature. its in my interests to keep the staff onside as well. its just so demoralizing to hear so many people sterotyping and demonising addicts. were just like the population at large. some nice, some not,to varying degrees. ive seen staff getting it from addicts before and ive stepped in twice i believe. id just wish people would realise drug addicts are our brothers, sisters and children. when people are in the grip of addiction they are not themselves, im not shifting the blame. its a fact, like the sun. ive read so mmuch on this topic and not once read anything about understanding and most certainly not support. but i guess living such perfect and unquestioning lives takes a lot out of you, to the point you could'nt put yourselves in the shoes of those on the other side, even for a minute.

Hi Cast606
I read your post with great interest and (trust me on this) a huge amount of personal and professional understanding. I've been a counsellor for folk with substance abuse issues and lived with relatives and friends with similar. The majority of healthcare workers will do what they can to assist people with substance abuse issues and i've yet to see anyone I work with mistreat any customer/patient just because of what items they pick up from the Pharmacy. But I know it does happen. What I have seen and experienced is the absolute rudeness and aggression from many customers and I for one am completely fed up with it all. There isn't enough space on this website for the stories I could tell you. None of them nice or funny. And this behaviour IS getting worse. Customers are getting nastier. And I don't know about anyone else on here but my life is as far from perfect as it is possible to get.............This site is partly a place for us folk in Pharmacy to have a bloody good rant and rave so that we can avoid getting an ulcer etc. So I would be grateful if we could be allowed to moan whenever we need to. best wishes to ya Cast606