Dispensing receptionists
Had a bit of an emergency with my baby daughter during the week when I needed to get her in to see a GP because of an ongoing high temperature that we were finding hard to control.
Since there are two pharmacists in the shop it was great to be able to leave at a moments notice!
The GP we got in to see gave me a script after discovering an ear infection and said that antibiotics were reasonable at this point since the symptoms had been present for 3 days and were not improving.
The interesting thing is to now be a patient at a dispensing doctors practice. The script that was handed to me wasn’t signed and when I queried this I was told that the GP would sign it when the dispenser had brought the medicines back to be checked (patient choice eh? – good job I do actually live miles from the nearest pharmacy!).
I didn’t mind too much since it was late and I needed the antibiotics, but it was fascinating to watch the receptionist dispense the antibiotic from the ‘dispensary’ in the corner of the room from where she was booking patients in, etc.
I’m obviously on my soap box about this issue being a pharmacist, but with the amount of patient interventions I regularly make, I just can’t see how similar problems are picked up in a dispensing practice.
Since there are two pharmacists in the shop it was great to be able to leave at a moments notice!
The GP we got in to see gave me a script after discovering an ear infection and said that antibiotics were reasonable at this point since the symptoms had been present for 3 days and were not improving.
The interesting thing is to now be a patient at a dispensing doctors practice. The script that was handed to me wasn’t signed and when I queried this I was told that the GP would sign it when the dispenser had brought the medicines back to be checked (patient choice eh? – good job I do actually live miles from the nearest pharmacy!).
I didn’t mind too much since it was late and I needed the antibiotics, but it was fascinating to watch the receptionist dispense the antibiotic from the ‘dispensary’ in the corner of the room from where she was booking patients in, etc.
I’m obviously on my soap box about this issue being a pharmacist, but with the amount of patient interventions I regularly make, I just can’t see how similar problems are picked up in a dispensing practice.
posted by Dee Spencer at 10:19 am
3 Comments:
I think I am right that if you check the dispensing regulations you will find that the regs state that it is for the dispensing doctor to choose whether to dispense the script or not, so he was perfectly within his rights not to sign the prescription until later when he checked the dispensed item.
You could, of course, have chosen not to be a dispensing patient when you registered with the practice in which case you would need to find an emergency pharmacist whenever a script was provided even if "it was late". That could be difficult as you live "miles from the nearest pharmacy".
By the way, how do you know that the "receptionist" was not a fully qualified dispensary assistant doubling as a receptionist? It doesn't do to jump to conclusions. After all, dispensing practice, the original DDA, was the first to promote a suitable course and qualification. Oddly enough, against the vigorous opposition of pharmacy.
Soap boxes are such delicate things to stand on sometimes.
David Roberts knows all about soap boxes
http://www.countrydoctor.co.uk/
And indeed, I am still standing firmly on my soapbox.
My comments on my experience were both as a patient and as a pharmacist. As a patient, I didn’t like that I wasn't given the choice of where to get my prescription dispensed. And as a pharmacist, with the amount of patient counselling and interventions that I make on a daily basis, I simply don’t see how patients receive the same level of care when the pharmacist is removed from the patient pathway.
I would also doubt that a fully qualified dispensary technician would be very happy about also doubling up as a receptionist.
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