Emergency supply furore in PJ

[Linnear]

Hi there!

Anyone else out there enjoying the emergency supply battle in the PJ letters section?

I was so incensed, or bored, today that I waded in.

A letter last week said that three common misconceptions were wrong.

1. You can't give a ES if surgery is open.
-My answer -if Drs there let patient explain why they haven't ordered their Rx in time

2. If you give an ES people will get lazy and not order Rxs in time in the future.
-My answer -a pharmacy where I worked started charging for all ES's and the patients soon stopped forgetting to order. Another shop used to supply 5 days or calendar packs as per regs and charge. If the patient brought back an Rx for what they's received then they got money back if they brough in 28 day RX they didn't so if they wanted their money back then they had to explain situation to Dr. Again ES requests dried up in a few months.
These don't disprove the point but they certainly prove that if people are inconvenienced then ES's seem to become less necessary.

3. You need written confirmation of drug name and strength.
-My answer -if the patient is on a regular repeat Rx at the pharmacy I take the computer record to tell me what they have otherwise how are we supposed to know that they're on the drug. Telepathy?


I always give an ES if I figure that it's necessary and I can keep my arse out of the wringer. Otherwise I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do.

[Zoggite]

Same here.
Might I just add:
i am getting significantly cheesed off with surgeries from far afield telling their patients to ask me to 'phone them so that they can fax me a Rx...
My stock answer is now "would you accept a fax of a £20-note? So why do you think I'll accept a fax for a seretide evohaler, which is worth £70?"
When was the last time I ever got something on credit in a shop?
(Regular visitors to this forum will recognise that I've had another wonderfully fulfilling summer saturday all day in sunny North Wales)

[Linnear]

I used to work til 8 one night a week in Tescos. It was originally 10!

One bloke came in adn asked for an emergency supply of his inhaler and I told him he'd have to pay or speak to Kernowdoc (Cornwall's emergency Dr service).

He went completely psycho! I'm ill! You're trying to kill me! I don;t have to pay etc.
In the end he went to Kernowdoc.

2 weeks late he came in again and told me that his GP had told him that if he ever needed another ES he was to come in to Tescos and tell the pharmacist on duty that it was THEIR job to contact Kernowdoc and get an Rx sent!



Last week we received a faxed Rx for an item that we didn't have, when I phoned the surgery to tell them the prescriber asked why we couldn't run around adn borrow some from another pharmacy!

[Zoggite]

now who's being spineless, eh?
Sounds like you get your fair share of chances to "wade into an argument"!!!

[Linnear]

Most places I work people say that I get in the most arguments! I think it's because I don't back down.

But conversely I'm the only one that has people coming back to apologise!

I think it's because when they come in and say that 'you've left something off my Rx' if you run around and sort out a new Rx etc. they go away thinking that they were right to some degree.
I send them back to the surgery and the surgery staff tell them that the pharmacy was right, the item was left off the Rx and they realise that they were in the wrong coming in shouting and screaming.

[Zoggite]

I must admit, it's great fun showing them the bit on their repeat slip that says "last issued on 22/06/2006" and rubbing their noses into it...!

[Linnear]

My favourites are the ones that haven't received their meds when I think they have.

I had an elderly couple shout at me for 20 minutes on the phone once. They'd both checked the bag three times each but the Atenolol wasn't there.

I said I'd redo despite not knowing where they could be.

Got a "Don't care about that, you haven't given it to us!"

10 mins later they called back.

"Sorry, it was in the bottom of the bag!"

Always nice to hear the embarrassment int heir voices.

[Zoggite]

Yep, been there, done that, got the T-shirt, etc...
And somehow they still manage to claim it's our fault, because we keep giving them different brands, so they didn't instantly recognise the box...

[BimboRat]

Wish they'd check before shouting.....

I agree... I can't count how many times I've had a phone call or a representative say that something wasn't given only to find that, after wasting 30 minutes of pharmacy staff time trying to locate the problem, the product was in a different colour box/at the bottom of the bag! The other classic is "well it's on my copy of the prescription!". No it's not a copy dear, it's a list of repeat medication that's attached to the original....

[gaby]

while i was on work experience.

a lady came in with a box saying her mother is diabetic and has been using (whatever type/strength of insulin) and there was no label or anything on the box. The pharmacist looked on his computer and couldnt find the patient so had no proof that this lady was indeed a diabetic patient since anyone can walk in with an empty box.

He explained to her that he will need the right hand half of the prescription that is torn off and returned to patients or the actual package with a label as proof. The lady said she had neither so he suggested she take her mother to A&E. and the woman just started hurling abuse at him saying isnt that wasting A&E time??? but he remained calm trying to explain his side that he cant legally supply without proof.

Then the lady went away and came back with her mother who brought with her the device she used and proof and the pharmacist made an emergency supply.

I think it was nice to see how pharmacists deal with difficult people who refuse to reason and think they know more than you do. Because she kept saying she works at a GPs.

The lady that needed the new supply of insulin was old, and old people do sometimes forget things like the fact they need a new prescription.

[Steve G]

while i was on work experience.

a lady came in with a box saying her mother is diabetic and has been using (whatever type/strength of insulin) and there was no label or anything on the box. The pharmacist looked on his computer and couldnt find the patient so had no proof that this lady was indeed a diabetic patient since anyone can walk in with an empty box.

The pharmacist who dispensed that box of insulin may have been one of those ones who follows every letter of the law and labelled the primary container (i.e. each vial). Unlikely, but possible. Secondly, how easy is it to get hold of an empty box of insulin? Not very easy I'd guess.

He explained to her that he will need the right hand half of the prescription that is torn off and returned to patients or the actual package with a label as proof. The lady said she had neither so he suggested she take her mother to A&E. and the woman just started hurling abuse at him saying isnt that wasting A&E time??? but he remained calm trying to explain his side that he cant legally supply without proof.

Then the lady went away and came back with her mother who brought with her the device she used and proof and the pharmacist made an emergency supply.

You might want to look at what the MEP actually says, not how the pharmacist interpets it. What MEP says is "the pharmacist... has interviewed the person requesting the medicine and has satisfied himself...
ii))that treatment with the POM has on a previous occasion been prescribed... for the person requesting it
iii) as to the dose it would be appropriate for that person to take" (pg 13 MEP 30)
So it doesn't actually say that the person has to prove that they are taking that medication. However, the pharmacist could have refused on the basis that it wasn't the patient they were speaking to.

[Jeff]

Yep, been there, done that, got the T-shirt, etc...
And somehow they still manage to claim it's our fault, because we keep giving them different brands, so they didn't instantly recognise the box...

So whose fault is it that they get different brands and don't recognise the box?
Many generics could be bought on an annual tender rather than on a day to day basis if pharmacy only had the will to do so.

Jeff

[Steve G]

So whose fault is it that they get different brands and don't recognise the box?
Many generics could be bought on an annual tender rather than on a day to day basis if pharmacy only had the will to do so.

Jeff

Wouldn't cash flow be a problem though?

[Jeff]

Wouldn't cash flow be a problem though?

Wasn't thinking of buying a years supply at once - rather just agreeing which manufacturer would supply and at what price per pack for the next year.

Jeff

[Linnear]

Wasn't thinking of buying a years supply at once - rather just agreeing which manufacturer would supply and at what price per pack for the next year.

Jeff

Nice idea but what about the ridiculous number of out of stocks we've had over the past few years?

Most of the customers are lucky if they get any of their meds let alone the same brand!