Pharmacist reviewed my prescription?

[adultcat]

I live in a smallish village - the kind where everyone know each other (or thinks they do!). I serve my doctor and pharmacist where I work so am familiar with them.
Today, I went to collect my repeat prescription and was asked if I had five minutes to spare for the pharmacist to speak to me. We went off in the side room and he logged on to the computer. He then asked me if I was happy with my medication / any side effects. Asked me if I am happy with my contraception and what alternatives there were as I've stopped taking the mini pill as I wasn't getting on with it - he wanted to know why...!
The whole 'chat' felt really uncomfortable, possibly because I serve him as a customer but I was wondering if this is a done thing now? I thought it would be my doctors place to review my medication and check everything is ok?
Has anyone else had this done??

@BatFaced couldnt agree more. People complain so much about the NHS but im suprised to see complaints about an actual good service

But as OP describes it, wasn't told the purpose, started to ask intrusive questions like why mini pill stopped.

Most people if they are having side effects with the medication speak to a doctor or ask a pharmacist if there are any alternatives.

I also live in a small village and the pharmacist is my neighbour, I too found all the questions a bit instructive (only because they're my neighbour, not because of the questions) I now take my prescription to the Sainsbury's pharmacy a few miles away, I'm more comfortable doing that.

I've had a couple of these, most recently just before Christmas. I find it very useful. For example, I didn't know that I'm not supposed to take certain cold and flu medication with the tablets I'm on. I had no idea about that.

This is an excellent service. Especially for people on a lot of meds, say they have gone to a locum gp for a short term condition and it was added to their repeat in error they could be taking it for years before they have another gp appointment when it is picked up. Many people are on the first line contraceptive (cheapest) even though they are having horrible and potentially dangerous side effects. One of my friends was on Yasmin pill for 10 years before it was picked up (massive stroke risk for Yasmin, not often prescribed now).

Absolutely normal, pharmacists are great and extremely knowledgeable about medications

@PengAly can't do right for wrong eh

And why is asking about coming off the pill intrusive? He's a pharmacist in his place of work doing his job. Not asking casually over the fish counter at OPs place of work. I doubt he actually gives two tosses on a personal note. Professionally yes m
It's not his fault it's a small community

I wonder if people fail to see pharmacists as medical professionals and instead think they are JUST dispensing medications?They have to get a medical degree and have a lot of expert knowledge! In some ways they know more than your GP

People who have declined, why would you decline something that is free, takes about five minutes, and is entirely for your benefit?

The only one i have had the pharmacist told me i had kidney failure. There is nothing wrong with my kidneys at all.
I have declined ever since. I'd really rather they didn't review medication i don't even take

What's wrong with asking why she came off the mini pill? The whole point is to fund out how you're doing with the drugs and any ill effects, so she said she came off the pill coz she "wasn't getting on with it" and he needs to query that. Pharmacists will report side effects, or if a side effect is a cause for concern they will advice you to get further help. It's their job. They are so under used and they are a wealth if knowledge to different drugs and effect etc. More peo0pe should use the service.

Judging from the above responses this seems common enough on the NHS? I have never ever seen or heard of this done though and yes OP I would find this extremely intrusive. Next time you need a prescription filled just use a different pharmacist.

People who have declined, why would you decline something that is free, takes about five minutes, and is entirely for your benefit?

I'm a big fan of evidenced based changes, especially where the business offering the service have a financial incentive. I've not see research showing patient benefits (as opposed to simple drug cost savings) compared to the costs.

I agree that the pharmacist may have the detailed knowledge about specific drugs, side effects, timing of dosage and interactions but the quality of these assessments is far too variable.

Like a PP I've been "advised" by a pharmacist who was selling homeopathic remedies and been given really bad advice because I have a complex history which the pharmacist didn't understand and which I had no intention of sharing.

One of my children was also given "advice" by an anti choice pharmacist (complained about that one).

I've also had the hard sell and been told my doctor required it (not true and I reported that to the surgery).

I can see the potential for some really useful services here and I've experienced some really good pharmacists but I'm steering clear until I see evidence of consistent quality and patient benefits for the money we pay for the service (via taxation).

I am with the OP on this. The fact that he started asking her about contraception after he had taken her into a private area really rings alarm bells for me.
I actually do not like it when pharmacists do this. I buy Nurofen in the 96 tab jars because I hate blister packs, and in my most recent purchase, I got the usual patronising lectures about how often to take it, stomache ache symptoms, etc. I am not stupid, I can read. I do think there is some sort of pressure selling involved in all this.

@PengAly Pharmacists don't have a medical degree. They have a degree in pharmacy.

@angelikacpickles when i said medical, i meant as in a subject that falls under the "medical" category, which pharmacy does. Apologies for confusion but my point still makes sense.

Ah Peng no I was saying usual pharmacist asks me lots of questions, phoned me, I phoned them, no issues at all with that. I welcome that

I was saying I had one pharmacist, trying the hard sell, made me feel uncomfortable and focused on the wrong thing. My other meds normal stuff I don’t understand why they clearly just focused on my 100 codeine 5 times

We might actually love in the same village?My pharmacist asked for a private review last week, I figured it was a quota or new initiative.

I take asthma medication and he advised me I was taking it at the wrong time of day as it's more effective at night, it was useful.

They have to get a medical degree and have a lot of expert knowledge

Really? where is this? In the UK they do a pharmacy degree not a medical degree.

I guess the question is why the pharmacist needed to know why the OP wasn't taking the pill. If he wanted know whether she was pregnant he could've asked that. How does knowing why not taking medicine is going to affect the current medication prescribed, if he explained it might have felt less intrusive.

Even better unless the pharmacist wouldn't dispense because of health concern then should've asked OPs consent.

Pharmacist saved me once by looking at my prescription, asking if I could wait, phoned the doctor who sent a nurse with the corrected (dose divided by 10) prescription.

The fact that he started asking her about contraception after he had taken her into a private area really rings alarm bells for me.

So he is supposed to ask her a private question in an open shop floor? You know, there is this thing called data protection....

I'm glad some people have said this is a thing that boots pharmacy do. Quite a few years ago when I was about mid 20s I was collecting a repeat prescription for the pill. The pharmacist, a man in his early 30s said he wanted to do some review thing and I went along with it.

He asked some very personal questions which now 7/8 years on I'd have said I wasn't happy to answer. I answered though. When he'd asked me all about my private life he then told me he was new to the area and asked me out, he wanted to add me to Facebook "I can just search your name it's ok" !!! I said I don't think that's very appropriate and I can't see my boyfriend being too pleased me going on a date with you! I thought he was a creep and meant to complain, I never did though.

At least I now know the review thing was real and not just an attempt to ask personal stuff in a side room, it was very odd. It's never happened since though.

@Moanranger

If she's stopped taking allergy medicine, her ask why. If she stopped taking pain relief, he'd ask why. If she stopped taking anxiety medication, he'd ask why. Contraception is no different. I can't believe that because a male medical professional asked about side effects from a medication that happened to be contraception, your shouting "alarm bells". Seriously? She said in her OP that she wasn't getting on with it. He would need to question that to ensure the medicine hadn't caused unexpected side effects which would need to be reported. Being male does not make it sinister. I pity any male doctors who ever need to treat you... god forbid they need to ask you any questions related to reproductive health whilst alone with you.

It is a useful service and can be beneficial to anyone on long term medication.

However MUR's are target driven in chain/supermarket pharmacies, it is an income stream as they claim money from the NHS for performing them. As a result some pharmacists can be pressured to perform a certain amount each week by their employer and if they miss their "target" consistently it can be addressed as a performance issue.

@C8H10N4O2 i already clarified what i meant in an earlier post