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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:
HeadintheiClouds · 16/10/2019 11:30

The pharmacist will have recommended OTC painkillers in the meantime, if necessary; not that you try to fill the prescription OTC Hmm
You really don’t grasp what’s going on, op. Quite concerning, tbh.

Original poster
bangheadhere40 · 16/10/2019 11:50

I do understand thanks. My OH spoke to the dispensary yesterday who looked into it and said it hadn't been queried with the Dr as they have the notes in front of them.

He is getting a call later as the dispensary lady is looking into it so we should have an outcome later about who was in the wrong.

OP posts:
Theresnobslikeshowbs · 16/10/2019 12:12

Here we can’t request a prescription until it’s due within 7 days, unless you are on holiday and need it early.

I have 4 controlled medications amongst my 4 weekly hamper, and I know requesting too soon, will mean I don’t get my prescription- it may be signed, but my pharmacist will say no. I was going on holiday once hence requesting early, but the message did not get to my pharmacist. Luckily it was resolved within minutes.

For what it’s worth, I love my pharmacist! I probably see her more at times than my GP. She is so knowledgable, and a couple of minutes wait to have a chat when she is free, saves on a GP appointment, who would give the same advice. That goes for rashes, UTI’s, migraines, swelling in the finger, thrush, BV, and queries about my medication interacting with each other and possible side effects. People really do underestimate the knowledge of their pharmacists, and don’t utilise them.

bluebluezoo · 16/10/2019 12:12

So he orders online, the dispensary gets the doctor to sign it and then it goes to his nominated pharmacy, that's how it works round here

Well no wonder the nhs is going bankrupt.

If the prescription is raised and issued by the dispensary, why the fuck are they sending it to an external pharmacy to dispense?

Why not just dispense it themselves? Key’s in the title, they’re a dispensary as in they dispense the medicine.

Why didn’t you just pick it up from the GP?

Original poster
bangheadhere40 · 16/10/2019 12:16

@bluebluezoo it's the way it works here. You can't physically pick up a prescription any more , it has to be electronically sent to the pharmacy of choice.

If we could just get it from the dispensary it would be a whole lot easier. The dispensary checked it and agreed it as did the GP, they have to do checks before sending it to the pharmacy.

OP posts:
Pukkatea · 16/10/2019 12:27

if a doctor has signed a prescription then surely that's it

Absolutely not and shouldn't be. Pharmacists regularly catch prescribing errors made by doctors and it is one of the most crucial parts of their job. They are the experts in pharmaceuticals.

bluebluezoo · 16/10/2019 12:27

So is is actually a dispensary? Or simply a service that prints up the repeat prescription and gets it signed?

Seems ridiculous to pay a dispensing pharmacist to print up a script, sign it off, get a gp to sign it, then send it to another dispensing pharmacist to recheck it and finally dispense it.

I’m suprised you ever get anything with that level of paperwork. i’d be complaining about that- their ”dispensary” clearly isn’t doing it’s job.

Original poster
bangheadhere40 · 16/10/2019 13:56

I have had a look at the website for the wording. You place your repeat prescription with the dispensary online. The dispensary is there to:

Take care of prescriptions - checking they are correct, getting them signed by a doctor and ensuring they are ready to collect at your nominated pharmacy.

So they had to check it was ok to order, the doctor agreed and signed the prescription, then the pharmacy refused to issue it.

OP posts:
puppyconfetti · 16/10/2019 13:57

You are trying to interpret the wording to suit your view.

Original poster
bangheadhere40 · 16/10/2019 14:00

Surely if the dispensary have vetted it before sending it to the doctor ( their job) the doctor has agreed, the pharmacies job is to give him the medication.

OP posts:
justintimberlakesfishwife · 16/10/2019 14:01

@bangheadhere40 it doesn't make any difference to the role and responsibility of the dispensing pharmacist, though. If the prescription was going on earlier than expected, this needed to be picked up by someone. So maybe the dispensary should have put a note on the system stating why that was acceptable. Or the GP should have. They didn't, so it's now up to the pharmacist to question it as so they should.

Original poster
bangheadhere40 · 16/10/2019 14:01

That was the exact wording on the GP's site:

Take care of prescriptions - checking they are correct, getting them signed by a doctor and ensuring they are ready to collect at your nominated pharmacy.

OP posts:
HeadintheiClouds · 16/10/2019 14:01

God almighty, have you read a single word people have said to you on this thread??

Seeingadistance · 16/10/2019 14:05

Perhaps the pharmacist refused to issue the medication because they have identified a serious problem with the system your surgery uses for prescriptions. It seems a bit sketchy, tbh, and open to abuse.

The pharmacist who actually dispensés the medicine has the final say, and is right to withhold if they have concerns.

dreichsky · 16/10/2019 14:08

The role and responsibility of the dispensing pharmacist doesn't change just because of a GP system.
I'm not a pharmacist but they are registered group of professionals, they have a legal duty to do their job to a certain standard regardless of anyone else's roles.
Their role isn't to just follow GP's instructions without thought and put pills in bottles.
The pharmacists and GP's on this thread have made this very clear.

CactusAndCacti · 16/10/2019 14:22

Pharmacists regularly catch prescribing errors made by doctors and it is one of the most crucial parts of their job

When I first started on my anti-depressants my dose was being increased slowly. The one time the pharmacist queried the increase making sure it was right as it had increased more than expected. It was fine, I had taken the one in-between to another chemist. But they were right to check. They are the experts, they can pick up on any anomalies or any adverse interactions.

bluebluezoo · 16/10/2019 14:29

Take care of prescriptions - checking they are correct, getting them signed by a doctor and ensuring they are ready to collect at your nominated pharmacy

So from that wording where do you get dispensary? A dispensary must have a qualified pharmacist to dispense scripts.

The above simply sounds like an unqualified person printing it up for the doctor to sign. “Checking it’s correct” probably only extends to right drug name and amount according to the previous script.

Which in itself is open to abuse or error- it’s easy for an overworked dr to miss a mistake and just sign if they didn’t write the script themselves. Especially a small thing as a date being a few days too early.

TequilaPilates · 16/10/2019 14:30

I've got no problem with the pharmacist checking the prescription for error etc.

I do have a problem with their solution being to just send the patient back to the Dr.

What if you went to collect the medication on a Friday night and you can't get to your GP until Monday morning because the pharmacist decides not to fill that prescription, leaving the patient without medication throughout the weekend?

Why isn't there a professional responsibility on the pharmacist to have to speak to the GP and sort the problem out?

bluebluezoo · 16/10/2019 14:32

What if you went to collect the medication on a Friday night and you can't get to your GP until Monday morning because the pharmacist decides not to fill that prescription, leaving the patient without medication throughout the weekend

In this case it wouldn’t happen though- the point being the script has been repeated too early. The patient should have medication to see them past the next repeat date if they are taking them correctly.

Original poster
bangheadhere40 · 16/10/2019 14:35

UPDATE!!! The nice lady in the dispensary who OH spoke to last night has now phoned him back. She has spoken to the Dr on his behalf and the doctor said it's fine for him to have it. It's now back at the same pharmacy to collect.

OP posts:
Original poster
bangheadhere40 · 16/10/2019 14:36

Which is what she should have done - spoke to the DR not just refused it.

OP posts:
Justmuddlingalong · 16/10/2019 14:39

Did she refuse it though, or hold it back until the pharmacist who was on lunch could speak to the GP?

prettybird · 16/10/2019 14:45

If you read the thread you'll see that the pharmacist had written on it he can't have it and that he should try OTC medication instead - without even talking to the doctor - and (it would appear) leaving it as "dispensed" on the on-line system so he'd had difficulty getting another prescription given he never got this one Shock

Original poster
bangheadhere40 · 16/10/2019 14:55

@prettybird that is exactly what has happened. She just refused it and it turns out she was the pharmacist when we checked. We described her to the dispensary and she is the 'lead pharmacist'. If we hadn't gone in she wouldn't have bothered going back to the GP.

I wouldn't have minded if she had said she needs to check but she just refused it and said try OTC. And yes it was left as dispensed on the online system.

OP posts:
prettybird · 16/10/2019 15:04

If it was still showing as "dispensed" on the on-line system, would she have been paid for it even though he never got it ? Hmm