Questions in the Pharmacy

kenshaz

When they start to ask questions and treat me like a child ,the best response is to answer yes ,other comments and responses cause complications,of course there are some that the questions will help and are unable to read the guidelines in the packet that all drugs come with.The question that irritates me most is the question by counter staff,have you taken aspirin before ?Once again I answer yes ,and joking is not allowed.
Some will respond by stating that there are vulnerable people and they need help ,perhaps so,but the educated become irritated by Nanny state guidelines.
The situation in respect to the purchase of Aspirin only in certain quantities is so annoying ,we know why ,but if I wanted to I could go from chemist to chemist ,so it is all a joke .

Emmylou_2

I have had bad reactions to OTC medicines because of their interaction with prescription meds I am on.

You should ALWAYS answer truthfully - even if it means having to explain yourself (e.g. I am mildly asthmatic and therefore shouldn't take pholcodine (cough medicine) but I have previously been prescribed it - so when they ask whether I have asthma I say "Yes, but my GP has said it's OK to take this medicine").

You only have yourself to blame if you don't answer honestly and have a bad reaction to something. The staff in the pharmacy are only doing their job!

Pelican_2

kenshaz wrote:

When they start to ask questions and treat me like a child ,the best response is to answer yes ,other comments and responses cause complications,of course there are some that the questions will help and are unable to read the guidelines in the packet that all drugs come with.The question that irritates me most is the question by counter staff,have you taken aspirin before ?Once again I answer yes ,and joking is not allowed.
Some will respond by stating that there are vulnerable people and they need help ,perhaps so,but the educated become irritated by Nanny state guidelines.
The situation in respect to the purchase of Aspirin only in certain quantities is so annoying ,we know why ,but if I wanted to I could go from chemist to chemist ,so it is all a joke .

I understand your frustration, but pharmacists have to ask certain questions before they supply you with medications. If you die due to incorrect taking medicines the buck stops with the pharmacist (not the GP, who may have written the prescription).

The situation about only buying certain amounts of painkillers can be irritating, but it has been proven to have been very effective in reducing the no. of suicide attempts through overdose. Believe it or not, the extra time spend going from supermarket to supermarket/ chemist to chemist, can be enough to dissuade a suicidal person from taking the overdose they had planned.

kenshaz

I am referring to counter staff, not the pharmacist who ask medical questions about you when you purchase over the counter medications.I would like to ask the question have suicides from over-dose of Aspirin reduced following these guidelines or are we talking about paracetamol.

I fully under how desperate some can become and wish to help and support them ,but I have to be sure that when governments interfere with my freedoms ,they are justified.

heather38

as a pharmacy assistant i take offence at your comment, we are there to act as 'agents' for the pharmacist. as part of our legally required training there are what are known as WWHAM questions that we should ask and if we don't then we are not doing our jobs.
how do we know that you have taken aspirin before? have never had a stomach ulcer? have asthma? are not giving it to a child? are not taking warfarin? the list goes on.
also the assistant is not required to sell any medicine to you if they don't thinks it's the right product for you, you should be greatful for their help, if they sold you the wrong product and god forbid something happened then you would be moaning so we're damned if we do and damned if we don't

andyrules

Not sure why this thread is on the 5* service board as the op seems to be complaining. This point was raised by the op months ago on another board as her mum had been questioned.

Personally, I would welcome anyone looking out for my interests, or those of my family. The op is lucky - I wish my local pharmacy was as vigilant.

iceicebaby

I would rather the pharmacist or their staff ask me questions and made sure I was ok to take the medicine to be honest.

I mean if the pharmacist hadnt asked the OP and they had a reaction while taking a medicine then im sure then that it would have been the pharmacists fault for not asking!

Broke_Student

'WWHAM' Checklist:

-Who is it for?
-What are the symptoms?
-How long have they had them?
-Actions taken so far?
-Medication they are already on.

That is the criteria for questioning I am supposed to use when serving any OTC medicines in my part time job. In my opinion they are reasonable questions to ask as in certain situations you may end up doing yourself harm unintentionally without even realising it! Fair enough, as a counter staff I may not have a good responce if you gave me unusual answers, but atleast then you will be referred to the (busy) pharmacist (whose further questioning is sound according to what you said yourself).

I do not believe you when you say 'the educated become irritated' since not everyone who is educated has a degree based on the action of drugs in the body. If you do not like it then just put up with it and not vent about it/try to end it, as I am sure that there are millions of other patients who benefit from not accidently buying unsuitable medications.

kenshaz

I do not need a degree to know about the side effects of aspirin and I should be allowed to go about my business without interogation,the rest of Europe is not subjected to these Nanny state procedures,allow us to make our own decisions.Whilst the compliant accept ,these actions will continue and the reason will be for the good of all,government should allow us to go about our business.
Why should your part-time training give you jurisdiction over what I buy?

liz545

Actually, the rest of Europe does have similar legislation, as I discovered when trying to buy painkillers in Germany last year; I don't speak very good German so it was a bit tricky!
The pharmacy staff are just trying to make sure you get the medication that's right for you, it doesn't really have anything to do with the gov't. Since it's only 5 minutes out of your day, I think you may have to get over it!

Mr_helpful

kenshaz wrote: »

When they start to ask questions and treat me like a child

This probably happens a lot because you behave like one. Case of "if the cap fits"