Adverse reaction - from doctor!

I had an interesting discussion with one of our local GPs this week. We get scripts mainly from three GP practices, two of which we have a great relationship with and one (a dispensing practice) which we don’t.

The upshot of this is that if there is a problem with a script, we can readily sort it out for patients from the two non-dispensing practices, but if it’s a script from the dispensing practice we send the patient back (it’s just over the road) since this has proved in the past to be more effective than the pharmacists trying to ring to speak to the doctors.

Now I don’t like working this way since it’s not in the patient’s best interests, so when I got a script for a steroid nasal spray for a 4 year old which, on talking to the mother, I knew should have been a steroid inhaler I decided to ring the practice myself.

The doctor concerned had meant to prescribe an inhaler but was so unpleasant on the phone that I won’t be in a hurry to try that again.

I think it’s such a shame when all health care professionals can’t work well together to ultimately provide patients with a safe, quick and effective service.