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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

in thinking that pharmacists should check the prescription before handing you the medicine?

84 replies

DaffoDeffo · 03/12/2018 09:56

I have had my inhalers changed as my asthma as got worse. Luckily for me I know exactly what each inhaler looks like and I know what the pills look like as I've had them several times.

I went and picked up my prescription and didn't open it till I got home. I had 2 inhalers plus pills and the chemist (I don't want to name them but a big chain) had got every item wrong. The 2 inhalers they had given me were completely the wrong dose (far lower than I had been prescribed) and the pills were the wrong ones.

Tbh I am not sure I would have checked thoroughly (the dose for example) if it wasn't for the fact that I'm familiar with what these medicines look like.

My children are both asthmatic and pick up their own prescriptions and tbh I'm not sure they would know on sight that their medication was wrong. It also makes me worry for my elderly relatives who I also think probably don't check their items against the prescription.

Is it asking too much that they actually bloody check what they hand over to you?

Is this a common thing that they get this sort of thing wrong?

OP posts:
DGRossetti · 04/12/2018 09:33

I’m gobsmacked people are claiming they always have prescription errors yet have never complained

I've complained - up to my MP. Admittedly the terminally useless Gisela Stuart (which tells you how long ago).

Caprisunorange · 04/12/2018 09:36

Well you need to complain to the general pharmaceutical council, not your GP

MinorRSole · 04/12/2018 09:38

Our pharmacist is usually great but it's inhalers that cause problems for us too.

Every time I pick up my daughters they've given her the wrong one, she can't use the breath activated ones as she's too young! Every time I ask them, take it off your system and every time I order it I say remember it's the manual one but still they give her the wrong one!

SuchAToDo · 04/12/2018 09:45

Simple solution..when they hand you your prescription in the chemist, stay in the chemist for a minute and check each item is the right medication...if it isn't then you can hand it back to the pharmacist and say "you just gave me the wrong medication"...and there shouldn't be any waste as you haven't taken the medicine away from the chemist

DGRossetti · 04/12/2018 09:50

and there shouldn't be any waste as you haven't taken the medicine away from the chemist

Dispensed medicines must be disposed of. This is why I wrote to my MP. The waste is appalling.

Yes, I know you'd think ....

Caprisunorange · 04/12/2018 09:56

The way the NHS contract & pay pharmacies (private businesses like Boots, Tesco, Superdrug) for providing their service is very complex and I think there are some misunderstandings on this thread about how much cost the NHS is bearing and for what (assumptions about cuts affecting service, assumptions that wastage costs the NHS money)

it really is complex and I haven’t worked in the area for many year but I have a feeling it’s being misunderstood here.

Darkbaptism · 04/12/2018 09:57

My son was given 10 boxes of a medication rather than 10 days (1 box) supply recently. He had 3 months worth of a couple of medications in the bag, I didn’t realise the mistake until I got home. Each box costs about £80!

Another time I was handed over someone else’s prescription, they didn’t check the name address and name - thankfully I realised in the shop, they were very apologetic and sorted it.

Pringlecat · 04/12/2018 10:02

Speaking up for the pharmacists here. My doctor once accidentally prescribed me a child dose of life saving medicine. The pharmacist, when checking the prescription, overrode it and dispensed the correct age-appropriate meds. It was the right thing to do, but I've often wondered what that the fall out was. I mean, she ignored what the doctor had signed, but what he had signed was clearly wrong. Do pharmacists have that level of authority?

TheWiseWomansFear · 04/12/2018 10:04

They've often given me much smaller amounts of the correct thing when they're out of stock and I haven't noticed til I get home which means takin up more GP time to get another prescription which annoys me

viques · 04/12/2018 10:04

Reading this makes me glad I go to my local pharmacy where they are attached to my gps practice and know many of their customers. Support local (if you can) .

DGRossetti · 04/12/2018 10:05

assumptions that wastage costs the NHS money

I'm probably a weirdo, but I care more that perfectly good medicines are being wasted - it's the morality not the economics.

MotorcycleMayhem · 04/12/2018 10:05

I refuse to use Boots after a series of mistakes including giving me 250 tramadol (strong painkillers) instead of 100 Topiramate (anti epilepsy / anti migraine) and a pharmacist who advised me I probably didnt need antidepressants despite knowing nothing about my mental health history. Complaints to the shop have met with no feedback. Never thought about going further.

Caprisunorange · 04/12/2018 10:08

I do think that’s quite weird actually DG. Retail has a huge amount of all sorts of wastage.

Pringlecat yes it’s not uncommon and pharmacists do have the power to over ride the prescription. In my experience they usually phone The GP to inform them, but to be honest, they also got to know the rubbish GPS who frequently made mistakes so not sure whether they continued bothering each time with those

DGRossetti · 04/12/2018 10:09

Reading this makes me glad I go to my local pharmacy where they are attached to my gps practice and know many of their customers. Support local (if you can)

So do we. They still get it wrong.

Sirzy · 04/12/2018 10:10

Yes they should check.

More than once a pharmacist has picked up on an error at point of prescribing, or new pharmacist have double checked things with me (ds is on a lot off off licence meds/doses)

Ultimately the buck stops with them so they need to have procedure to make sure they give patients the correcf drugs. It’s a tough job but vitally important

DGRossetti · 04/12/2018 10:11

I do think that’s quite weird actually DG. Retail has a huge amount of all sorts of wastage.

Ah, so the "everybody does it" argument Hmm ? That's not actually shut me up, just made it worse. Wasting food also leaves a bad taste, given the state of the world. Hell, wasting anything ...

Livinglavidal0ca · 04/12/2018 10:15

I work in pharmacy and mistakes like that should not happen at all. It goes through a dispenser and then a pharmacist checks and they often pick up errors like strength or dose etc.

A lot of the time we get shouted at by patients about items being incorrect, however, we dispense off the prescription and a lot of the time it's the prescription that has the wrong item, so not been updated or something.
Errors are a very very big deal, if we make them, even if you don't report it we absolutely have to. So it's all on record anyway. Luckily our branch doesn't make errors like that, at least not in the time I've been there (although someone claimed we gave them an empty box once which is impossible). Locum pharmacists can be hit and miss, but there's so much paperwork that goes along with just dispensing it's ridiculous.
More and more people are getting prescriptions for aspirin, paracetamol, calpol etc and pharmacies are definitely getting busier, with much less staff. Wholeheartedly agree mistakes are not acceptable, report every single one!

SylvanianFrenemies · 04/12/2018 10:42

These mistakes aren't normal! Please complain.

I have never had a medication error at our local pharmacy, despite being on loads of medication. The pharmacist is very thorough, as you would expect.

Confuzzlediddled · 04/12/2018 10:51

My DH should have been given sumatriptan (forigraine) and was given sildenafil (viagra!) instead, he noticed just in time that the tablet was the wrong shape - that was with Lloyd's chemist, have never used them since, always use the independent one and never had a problem with them.

The attached photo shows the differences between the boxes (these were all dispensed together) and I don't believe there was any checking or care taken. He did receive a letter of apology but we wouldn't trust them again.

in thinking that pharmacists should check the prescription before handing you the medicine?
Confuzzlediddled · 04/12/2018 10:53
  • forigraine should say for migraine
Balaboosteh · 04/12/2018 11:06

Friend of mine was given viagra in place of his regular medication. It was a pharmacy error. Took him a couple of weeks to spot the mistake - he didn’t know what had hit him!

Nat6999 · 04/12/2018 11:08

What annoys me is when you have handed in your prescription, waited to have it dispensed & then they tell you that you need to come back a couple of days later to collect things that are out of stock. It would be better if they told you they hadn't stock before dispensing so you had the option to try another pharmacy.

Dungeondragon15 · 04/12/2018 11:16

Dispensed medicines must be disposed of. This is why I wrote to my MP. The waste is appalling.

Who do you think would pay for the waste if it is due to something dispensed in error?! The pharmacy is a private business not part of the NHS. If there is no prescription for the medicine they won't get reimbursed and they will be the ones that pay for the loss. It will have zero effect on NHS finances.

DGRossetti · 04/12/2018 11:19

It will have zero effect on NHS finances.

Shocking as it may seem, that wasn't my main worry about wastage.

Caprisunorange · 04/12/2018 11:22

I don’t know, there are lots of posts about the government and why did you contact your MP about a private listed company wasting stock rather than their regulator? I think you did think this was public money.