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Letters to the Editor
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Community pharmacy
Staff are overwhelmed by new “opportunities”
From Miss C. M. Watson, MRPharmS
I would like to comment on letters from Ken
Sagar and Mitul
Patel (PJ,
2 October, p466 and p465) because they eloquently express concerns that
I also have.
I do not think what Mr Sagar experienced is acceptable dispensing practice.
Unfortunately his experience is being repeated by thousands of patients
the length and breadth of Britain. Patients are being confronted with
a “dolly mixture” assortment of medicines when they receive
their repeat prescriptions. There is no continuity of packaging and the
size, colour and shape of tablets and capsules can vary depending on
source.
I note that patient representative groups are beginning to take issue
with this problem. We are being encouraged to take on new roles but in
my opinion we are not even performing our core role properly. All the
counselling in the world will not convince a worried elderly patient
with perhaps four or more repeat medicines that a pink and white capsule
one month is the same as a purple and grey one the next. We have no idea
if the lack of continuity in appearance of medicines is affecting compliance.
The argument that our skilled buying is keeping the drugs bill down is
a red herring. (Generic manufacturers are being investigated for price
fixing.) The issue of parallel imports being cheaper than UK-sourced
drugs has not been tackled either. Counterfeit drugs are already in the
supply chain. How can this be described as a professional service?
Mr Patel has described a typical scenario in many community pharmacies.
Staff are overwhelmed by new “opportunities”, increased volume
of dispensing, model schemes, patient group directives, standard operating
procedures, grandparent clauses, staff training, audit, increased demand
for information on medicines, alternative therapies, health promotion
etc. The list is endless. I find I now dread hearing the words “a
customer would like a word with you” because I know if I spend
10 minutes with them there will be a build up of tasks waiting for my
attention. This saddens me because this used to be my favourite part
of my practice. I think I must be burnt out.
Catherine Watson
Tain, Ross-shire
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal