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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Pharmacy Jobsworth or Normal?

315 replies

bangheadhere40 · 15/10/2019 13:26

I would like opinions on this please as I've not had this in a pharmacy before.

I took time out of work today to go and pick up a prescription from the pharmacy for my husband. It was ordered online and had been signed by a doctor, all good.

When I went the lady in the pharmacy said she wasn't going to give it out as it is too early to order it again on repeat. I explained that the doctor had signed it off and she had the signed prescription ( she doesn't know my husbands medical needs). She said no she wasn't going to give me it for him and she is sending it back to the doctor and to try in a few days.

Is this normal? I always thought if the doctor had signed it then it's good to go!

OP posts:
VividImagination · 15/10/2019 14:42

Our pharmacy won’t hand out any prescriptions if the pharmacist is not there. When I went to collect a recent one they had no pharmacist all day so I had to go back the next day to collect.

Disfordarkchocolate · 15/10/2019 14:42

Perfectly acceptable even if annoying for you. GPS and doctors have to monitor drugs that can be abused and ensure patients are prescribed drugs early.

shearwater · 15/10/2019 14:43

If you took it to Boots, say, instead how would they know when it was last prescribed?

AthollPlace · 15/10/2019 14:44

The pharmacist has done their job correctly. If they think a prescription may be a mistake for whatever reason they are within their rights to reject it. Sometimes there are permitted limits on how much of a certain item you can have dispensed. Sometimes the prescribed dose may seem excessive or there may be an interaction with another drug you’re taking. Or maybe you’re breastfeeding or diabetic or whatever and the drug is labelled not suitable in that situation. Ultimately the pharmacist would be liable if they gave you something you shouldn’t have.

WYP2018 · 15/10/2019 14:45

I’ve tried to order a repeat prescription before and the pharmacist refused it as it was too early, I had just over two weeks of medication left. So yes they do check, it is part of their job. That was for thyroxine so not even something controlled!

Original poster
bangheadhere40 · 15/10/2019 14:46

It is on that list someone posted. I understand they need to check the packaging and everything and that the dose is correct once it's been prescribed.

I'm not sure if he has ordered too early, he does it all online and then it flags up when it's been signed by the GP and says it's ready to collect at the pharmacy.

OP posts:
Original poster
bangheadhere40 · 15/10/2019 14:47

Yes, if I took it to another pharmacy instead how would they know when he last had it? I think I might ask him to change the nominated pharmacy.

OP posts:
DarlingNikita · 15/10/2019 14:48

Jobsworth, but TBF maybe she's been burned before by something like this and she's super-careful now.

I'd have thought the GP is ultimately responsible for deciding when you can reorder.

HowlsMovingBungalow · 15/10/2019 14:48

Does he need the meds today? Has he run out?

Original poster
bangheadhere40 · 15/10/2019 14:49

He has a few days left but the pharmacy is a pain in the arse to get to and I had some time free today.

OP posts:
Doraismissing · 15/10/2019 14:49

You may have ordered it because you are going away or any other of reasons. I think you should speak to the Pharmacist. IMO pharmacy assistants can have a god complex that is only ever trumped by the GP receptionist

coffeeforone · 15/10/2019 14:49

I've noticed Pharmacist do pick up on GP's mistakes and refuse to dispense. Recently I was refused some children's piriton (!) for my one year old as the GP had put the wrong dosage on the prescription (should have been twice daily but the wrote 4 times!). Had to go back to the GP!

starfishmummy · 15/10/2019 14:57

In our area you wouldnt be able to order it "too early". If you ring the surgery or the new central ordering service they will look at when you last had it and tell you that you can't get it yet if it is too soon. Likewise the online ordering system actually has the date you can get it from. (Obviously for a holiday you would ring and have a discussion).

BreconBeBuggered · 15/10/2019 15:09

Interesting. I take a painkiller from the controlled list, and when I switched from having the pharmacy order for me to ordering it direct from the GP, I noticed that the timeframe in which I can re-order that particular item had shortened drastically. Every other item is 56 days, but the painkiller is under 3 weeks, ie the length of time in which I'd go through them if I took the maximum dose every day, which I very seldom do. Presumably the pharmacist would put her foot down if I suddenly began stocking up beyond my usual pattern?

EstebanTheMagnificent · 15/10/2019 15:15

The fact that it’s a controlled painkiller does change things rather, OP. The dispensary assistant might not have handled the communication with you terribly well but it literally is more than her job is worth to dispense a controlled drug in error.

Ninkaninus · 15/10/2019 15:19

The pharmacist is personally liable for any errors in medication dispensed. It is absolutely right for her to be strict on this as it’s a controlled medication.

RocketQueen79 · 15/10/2019 15:22

Someone I love recently died after a codeine addiction/overdose and many complications that followed the OD. I wish the pharmacist had picked up on that.

I also wish those online doctor/pharmacy websites were all shut down.

It might seem harsh given your circumstances but I feel quite proud of that pharmacy assistant for actually giving a shit.

messolini9 · 15/10/2019 15:28

She said the doctors sometimes just sign stuff without thinking about it!

Oh ye dogs, she has appointed herself as Overseer to GP's. Because CLEARLY she knows more about medicine than they do ...

JenniR29 · 15/10/2019 15:30

As a pharmacist I have been in this situation before, I obviously can’t tell you what this individual pharmacist did but I can take an educated guess at what happened:

It is good practice for a doctor to prescribe no more than 30 days supply of a controlled drug at a time. This is to stop deliberate and accidental overdose and to prevent drugs from illegally being sold by patients.

Quite often a doctor will just sign a batch of repeats without really checking them (they are often super busy and I don’t blame them).

The pharmacist can check to see when the patient was last issued the controlled drugs and if it has been less than 30 days then they can intervene and contact the doctor who will often instruct to withhold the prescription or send it back.

Perhaps the communication wasn’t brilliant but it doesn’t mean the pharmacy did anything wrong.

One time I had a patient prescribed 90 days worth of fentanyl within a two week period, this could have resulted in a potentially fatal overdose (actually turned out the patient was selling it and he’s now in jail!) so I’m glad I intervened.

YouSirOweMeOneNewHat · 15/10/2019 15:33

Yes if it's an opioid or other addictive drug then they've to be really careful.

I take opioid medication, get prescribed just 2 weeks worth at a time and can only put my repeat in 48hours before the next lot are due (the repeat medication processing time.)

If I'm ever early (due to being busy, going away or even public holidays meaning I'd run out) I have to go through a million questions with the GP and a million questions with the pharmacist too.

It's a pain in the arse when it happens but, if someone is addicted and it doesn't flag up, the alternative doesn't bear thinking about.

maggiecate · 15/10/2019 15:34

If it’s a controlled substance the pharmacist was being responsible- the absolute last thing you need is your husband getting addicted. It’s frighteningly easy to get hooked on prescription painkillers.

If your husband is reordering early enough that the pharmacist has flagged it I’d be a little bit concerned and maybe check he’s still got what he should have left.

Chivers53 · 15/10/2019 15:35

GPs do make errors, probably as they're so savagely overstretched, but pharmacists 'catch' all sorts of things. We made a dosset box once, following a prescription from the GP, it had codeine and paracetamol at each dose; which is highly dangerous and double the amount of paracetamol that is safe to take. We phoned the surgery and the Dr said pretty much 'lol oops you're right'. Perhaps they saw when he last had it and informed the surgery who advised they'd made an error but this hadn't been communicated well. Perhaps it was just a 'jobsworth' but your husband should phone and see what they say.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 15/10/2019 15:40

Definitely NOT a jobsworth. Being a double check for overworked GPs is part of their job - as JenniR29 explained.

JenniR29 · 15/10/2019 15:41

I also agree with the PP who said that if your husband is ordering early he might be doing it frequently.

I wouldn’t generally intervene if it happened once and it wasn’t ridiculously early (people go away on hols etc). I would if I noticed a pattern. The fact that it has been flagged up might potentially be cause for concern.

EstebanTheMagnificent · 15/10/2019 15:46

Because CLEARLY she knows more about medicine than they do ...

I guarantee that pretty much any GP you care to ask will cheerfully confirm that pharmacists (and indeed knowledgeable, experienced dispensary assistants) certainly do know more than them about drugs, dosages, and contraindications. It is quite literally their job.