Rubbish service at Pharmacy

[HouseOfGoldandBones]

I've woken up this morning with a really sore ear & jaw, and I am swollen down the same side of my neck.

I tried to get an appointment with the GP, but they have no appointments any time in the next 3 weeks, so I thought I'd take the advice & go to the Pharmacy.

When I first went in there was no-one there, so I asked the lady at the counter if I could speak with the Pharmacist. She said she would try to help, so I told her my symptoms, and she suggested it was ear wax & I should use oil. This may or may not have been the right advice, but I asked her if she would mind if I spoke with the Pharmacist.

She huffed & went off muttering that "her advice wasn't good enough", and after 5 minutes the Pharmacist came out, by which time the shop was really busy.

The Pharmacist came to the back counter (so further back than the shop counter) & asked what was wrong, and I asked if there was anywhere we could go that was slightly more private, she said no, and repeated, "what's wrong", so I told her, and she said "you need to go the GP" and walked away.

I appreciate that they have been really busy, and it may be that the lady that served me may have been medically trained, although she didn't mention it.

I phoned our GP back, but they obviously can't just magic up appointments, and it's not an emergency, so don't want to take up an emergency appointment. Their advice is to wait a few days & if it's still bad I need to call back & they'll try to fit me in.

Isn't this just rubbish service, given that the advice is to go to the Pharmacist in the first instance.

Yes, it's annoying. Please dont put anything in your ear, phone your gp and ask for an emergency appointment. Say pharmacist referred you to gp. In my experience, all pharmacists very sensibly refer most queries to gp unless its something very simple that common sense -cut finger, drippy nose, bites and stings, indigestion - tells you a chemist might deal with. Understandably, pharmacists, although highly trained specialists, are not there to provide a cheap diagnostic service no matter what the government says. I don't blame them. Why should they be used to supplement gp services that are under funded? Please seek appropriate medical treatment.

It wasn't a Lloyd's pharmacy was it? I find their customer service fairly awful.

Could the problem be dental? DH had similar sounding symptoms and needed root canal. If this is a possibility, it might be worth trying to get a dentist appointment (for us this is quicker than the GP).

Yes, @WhirlyGigWhirlyGig it was Lloyds.

Never thought that it might be dental, I'll give them a call now. Thank you

Should've taken you to a private area when asked (though not sure why you wanted one tbh but it's ok to.), they can deal with ear complaints to a point, it doesn't sound like they did this, and the first person you spoke to was very unprofessional and rude. Contact Lloyd's head office and complain.

I hope you feel better soon. Ear problems are awful.

And take up an emergency app at the gp. It could develop quite quickly if you need antibiotics.

sorry that sounded abrupt.