The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7284 p120
31 January 2004

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  Decision support
  Compliance
  CD regulations
  Dispensing
  Pharmacy assistants
  Packaging
  Alcohol metabolism
  Capacity planning
  Reciprocity
  The Charter

Letters to the Editor

Dispensing

There are unnecessary distractions in open-plan dispensing

From Mr J. Horncastle

I would like to add my concerns about open plan dispensaries. On a number of occasions I have been in situations similar to those described by David Phillips (PJ, 17 January, p52) whereby patients have “corrected” me on the selection of products I had made when, in many cases it was not their prescriptions I was working on at the time. From the point of view of someone in the process of learning, it can be extremely off-putting and stressful having patients constantly staring at you while you work. The situation is certainly not at all conducive to learning because one tends to question one’s own abilities if there is constant criticism of this nature, and indeed it makes one more likely to make mistakes due to the unnecessary distraction. The move towards open plan dispensaries should not be at the expense of the well-being of staff and ultimately the safety of the dispensing process.

John Horncastle
4th Year Student
University of Sunderland

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