The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7237 p266
22 February 2003

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  OFT report
  Supermarket pharmacy
  CPD
  Repeat prescribing
  Community pharmacy
  Locum pharmacy
  Dispensing
  YPG project
  The Profession
  Diabetes
  The Society
  Homoeopathy
  Paediatric pharmacy

Letters to the Editor

Dispensing

Do not be afraid to ask for help

From Ms H. Neill, MRPharmS

I am sure that Christopher Wragg (PJ, 8 February, p188) is well aware that a toddler died as the result of a mistake made during the preparation of a "simple" peppermint water formula. The case occurred as I was beginning my pharmacy degree and has remained firmly rooted in my mind ever since.

It goes without saying that this is the ultimate nightmare scenario for every pharmacist and one that should never be repeated.

Extemporaneous dispensing is taught to undergraduate pharmacy students, but the time available for such teaching is only a small portion of the overall degree. As with any part of one's education, if teaching is not put into practice, knowledge and skills are inevitably lost. Pharmacists nowadays simply do not encounter requests for extemporaneously dispensed products often enough to develop their competence.

All the more reason therefore that those pharmacists unfamiliar with preparing such products can seek accurate information on how to do so or, preferably, ask specials manufacturers to make the item instead. They should certainly not be made to feel stupid for asking for help.

This logic risks driving some pharmacists into "guesstimating" answers rather than lose dignity from not knowing. Questioning how, what, why and where is a key part of a pharmacist's development. The day that my pride prevents me from asking a question, no matter how simple, is the day that I will discover I am in the wrong profession.

Helen Neill
Cardiff

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