Being told to go the pharmacy for cystitis by doctor receptionist

[Musica7474]

I have cystitis. I’ve had it before and had different anti biotic for it- sometimes 2 as it has been resistant to treat.

Ive left it to try and sort it self out for a few days by doing all the right things. It hasn’t.

Receptionist told me pharmacies now deal with cystitis and will advise me. I don’t need advice and I don’t want to be talking about my wee and symptoms in a packed pharmacy.

The receptionist made me feel awful for not wanting to go to the pharmacy and insisting on a doctor’s call( I’d have been happy with a prescription being left at the desk and no call just a gp looking at my records to check which anti biotic is best for me). She said I could have a call this time.🤔

Cystis can be really unpleasant and not great if not treated . Anti biotic are expensive and it’s not great to take several, I don’t think women should be made to feel like shit for wanting treatment for it and a gp to look at her records.

The GP was supporting my dc having been referred to him by the specialist in the CMHT for what he needed to do. He was fantastic, hugely skilled and actually better than some of the mental health professionals my dc has had the misfortune of working with. I don’t agree that GPs aren’t skilled in MH issues, we’ve had to go in for several MH issues and they’ve always been fantastic.

I don't know why you keep going on about me 'demanding' to see a gp @UndertheCedartree ? I don't. Rather I expect to see one if I need to and I also <the point of the op> refuse to drop samples at the chemist who as I've said have enough on their plate with queues of oaps and frail ill people.

Gps not only offloaded their out of hours cover in 2004 they now seem to be offloading their 9am til 5pm workload too.

P.s yes I do Econsults thanks, but sometimes one does actually need examining tiresome though that may seem for a gp.

I have had cystitis and I went to my local pharmacy as instructed. The first pharmacist I saw took me to a private room, took all my details including my age and told me to take the over the counter sachets for two days and come back if it wasn't better.

It was way worse by after two days so I went back, told the assistant in front of the long queue, she went to the pharmacist who shrugged her shoulders and said "Ask her what her symptoms are." She did this in front of the queue, went back to the pharmacist who told her I had to bring a sample. She handed me a jar in front of the whole queue and told me to bring back a sample.

Not wanting to do this in the supermarket toilets I went to my nearby home and went back a hour later. this time I managed to speak to the pharmacist who was incredibly huffy that I had taken so long. She insisted on speaking to me in front of the long queue, waved my sample around in the air when she was telling me off about taking an hour to get back with the sample. Then said loudly "How old are you anyway?" I said quietly "I'm 66." She replied "You're too old for us. You need to call 111."

This was Friday evening so I couldn't get any help from my GP at this time. I left the store in tears and I won't bother trying to get any help from the pharmacist again.

Yanbu.
For most people developing cystitis, a trip to the pharmacy is no problem and far more convenient than going to the GP.
For people who have a history of difficult to treat cystitis, other associated problems and conditions that could be affected, they need to speak with their GP.
We don’t have a private room at our local chemists, and I don’t like the grumpy judgy pharmacist who works there. I wouldn’t want to discuss intimate things in public, to him.

So sorry you experienced this and it illustrates exactly why pharmacies are not the place for discussing samples etc. They may know their drugs but there's a bit more to it than that.

It's three pages and three hours since @Citrusandginger linked to the actual rules around this service.

Which include the following, under "Criteria for exclusion":

Known previous nitrofurantoin resistant UTI (recorded in accessible information e.g. National Care Record, clinical record if available) OR known previously resistant UTI to any antibiotic self-reported by the individual where records not available.

OP said I have cystitis. I’ve had it before and had different anti biotic for it- sometimes 2 as it has been resistant to treat. It seems pretty likely that one of the antibiotics they already tried her with is the same common first-line treatment of nitrofurantoin that pharmacists are allowed to prescribe, and if they can't access her relevant records, she fits comfortably in the second group.

Yes, pharmacists are trained professionals who can help you manage all kinds of minor health problems. This means that their time is valuable and shouldn't be wasted. If OP had seen the pharmacist, there's a very high chance she'd have been redirected to the GP as she's not the simple straightforward type of case they're set up for (and even if the pharmacist did prescribe, it doesn't seem likely that the pharmacy treatment would be strong enough to work anyway, given her history — so, more consultations needed, more valuable professional time wasted, more risk and damage for OP).

Going to the pharmacist when you know that they almost certainly can't deal with your problem is as much of a waste of a professional's time as going straight to the GP for something you know a pharmacist almost certainly can deal with — more, probably, because you've taken up the time of two professionals instead of one.

You poor thing. It’s just not ok. You must have felt so grim and utterly mortified.

Sometimes you need more than the sachets

So from the government website

“Patients can still choose to visit a GP if they wish to. “

So she absolutely shouldn’t have said “ you will need to go your pharmacy we don’t treat it now” Followed by “well I’ll arrange a call on this occasion”.🤔

Does anybody know the age limit as I must be getting near it if the previous poster wasn’t eligible at 66.

Thanks TheCoffeeNebula. I don't think the P1 processes are supposed to treat recurring cystitis which a number of posters have referred to.

So the OP is correct. Complicated or recurrent uti, should not be signposted to pharmacy. It's a waste of an appointment and everyone's time. And on a Friday, quite likely to lead to a weekend visit to A&E. This drives me nuts. Allowing people to see the right professional in the first place is the least wasteful pathway.

Well we must all share this info! No thanks, I'm going to leave my sample here for you to process as the Government has said I can choose to do.

There's a pharmacist somewhere who does not have a clue how fortunate they were today. 😉

Similarly, there's a receptionist somewhere who will double-down the next time they are spoken to like shit for following the rules put in place by the GPs in their practice. 👍

I'll repost the link to the guidelines as it may help others. Hope you are feeling better OP.

https://go.skimresources.com?id=470X1716091&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.england.nhs.uk%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F11%2FPRN00936iiiPharmacy-First-Clinical-Pathways-v.1.6.pdf&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mumsnet.com%2Ftalk%2Famiibeing_unreasonable%2F5048472-being-told-to-go-the-pharmacy-for-cystitis-by-doctor-receptionist%3Freply%3D134485402

Guidance, not rules. Fixed that for you.

Where does it say the op spoke to anyone like shit? It's usually the other way round reception staff wise tbh.

She wasn’t spoken to like shit.

I explained my history and why I wanted to speak to a doctor is that not ok now either? Also a previous poster insisted receptionists are apparantly as good as GPs at diagnostics now and don’t make mistakes. She did.

And actually if a pharmacy can’t cope with patients wanting to discuss their history this system shouldn’t be in place.

Thankyou!

Who said I was referring to the OP talking like shit to the receptionist? 😊

The GPs receive guidance from the NHS, and they (or more likely their Practice Manager) confirm the rules (decided by the GP/s) for their reception staff. If/when issues emerge with the rules, they are reviewed and updated accordingly.

I've never experienced a GP receptionist speak to me like shit. Then again, I'm respectful that they are working on behalf of GPs/other HCPs within the practice and speak to them in a pleasant/reasonable manner just as I expect to be spoken to.

As a general rule, I tend to find what we give out to people is what we receive in return. That's probably why I encounter very few rude people in my life. 👍

Well who were you referring to then?!

In your ideal world yes it would indeed be simply smashing that we get back what we give. Life however just isn't like that and there really are snippy folk strangely choosing places like healthcare to work in when they aren't suited to it due to their poor social skills. I'm so pleased you've never experienced it though, would you like a medal?

Tbf 9 times out of 10 I get helpful staff both at the docs and the busy pharmacy however it's that one battle axe jobsworth who spoils it for everyone.

I think from your tone on here, when people are making reasonable/pertinent points, it's more likely than not the receptionist considered herself to have been spoken to like shit/spoken to as being 'lesser' than you.

However, I wasn't there so I can only extrapolate from your attitude on here as to how you approach people you consider to be .... erm .... unworthy of your respect for their job.

This is how I've read your hierarchical view of people:

GP = Excellent (i.e. willing to indulge you)
Practice Nurse = Bad (only a nurse, not a GP who may, exactly like a GP, access your personal medical history from a place other than within the surgery)
Pharmacist = Bad (because they are not a GP, although more intensively trained in drugs, their efficacy and contraindicators)
Receptionist = Worse Than Bad (unqualified, untalented and unworthy of respect)

No you said the next time they are spoken to like shit. She wasn’t this time.

And re the rules the GP was only too happy to speak to me and didn’t mention any different rules to the job site after I explained why I preferred to speak to him.

I am always polite to all professionals but I have been spoken to like shit by NHS staff and been undeservedly treated like shit with staff further down the line apologising for it. I had a PALs complaint upheld. So it does happen. I praise excellent care and have passed that on too.

'I think from your tone on here, when people are making reasonable/pertinent points, it's more likely than not the receptionist considered herself to have been spoken to like shit/spoken to as being 'lesser' than you.'

'Who said I was referring to the OP talking like shit to the receptionist'

I'm confused. Make your mind up.

Awwww, don't be confused. Just pay attention.

Utterly incorrect. She spoke to me as if I were a lesser actually. Quite patronising and worse of all gave out incorrect information.

I am! You said the op spoke to the receptionist like shit, then said you weren't talking about her then said you were. Are you ok?

Prescribing pharmacies IME have a booth or similar for private conversations.
They often have more time available than a GO as they are not backed up with appointments.

They are useful as part of a holistic healthcare solution. They are not the answer for everything but are good for what they do