VENT - Sainsburys Pharmacy

xxJudexx

Bit of a long story but stick with me!

My mum is on home dialysis. She has a few side effects of her major kidney disease, one being chronic headaches. These headaches aren't your normal mild pain but full on migrane type pain. She has even been admitted to hospital with these headaches, so no exaggeration on how bad they are.

To help with the pain she takes co-codamol. She never takes more than the recommended amount and her doctor and specialist have told her it is ok to take these with all the meds she is on.

The thing is, she takes it pretty much every day. The box states that because it is an addictive drug it is recommended not for use for any more than three days and if you feel you need it for longer to consult your doctor. My mum has consulted her doctors and they have said it is fine to keep using it (as I said before)

I often go to pick up my mums prescriptions on her behalf, kidney disease makes you very tired! When I have asked for co-codamol for my mum they ask what other medication she is on. Now I don't know (can't pronounce) half the stuff she is on so one time I was turned away.

I went back the next day armed with all the medication she is on and all the doses. And still they wouldn't serve me. Basically because of the meds she is on she shouldn't have co-codamol with it but like I said the doctor has said its fine. Her kidneys are knackered anyway so this drug isn't going to make a difference.

So now I go in and order it as if it is for myself. So much easier as I am on no medication.

But now sainsburys have gotten really weird with us. I went in a few weeks ago and was served by a newish person (first time I had seen her on the pharmacy) and she went through all the stuff they are meant to, then she asked me what pain I needed the pills for. I thought this was a bit weird but I just said toothache.

Yesterday my sister went to get some more and the regular pharmacy woman served her and said she has seen her before and would need to take all her details before she would serve her. So my sister had to give out her name, age, address and phone number just to buy a packet of co-codamol.

I am really peeved at this. I know they have to do their job and they have the right to refuse to serve anyone but surely the stuff on the packet about three days use is just a guideline and it is up to the customer to decide how long to take it for.

We have now decided to boycott sainsburys pharmacy and go elsewhere but I am still going to put a complaint in to the store. I don't expect anything but it would be good to see what their policy on serving customers on the pharmacy is because I don't think this treatment is appropriate. I'm also going to ask for all our details to be taken off their database because my sister was bullied into giving out her details. I have no idea what that information would be needed for.

If anyone else has similar experiences I would love to hear them, or if anyone works at sainsburys and could enlighten me that would be great!

Anyway rant over!

Azari

I don't understand this.

Your mother should be on prescribed medication for her headaches. It would ensure that she takes the correct drugs, it would be cheaper, it would avoid the hassles at the pharmacy, and you could get a reasonable supply at a time.

The pharmacists and servers at Sainsburys are not doing anything wrong.

It's your mother's doctors who do not seem to be on top of the situation.

bluenoseam

I'd remind them that if the doctor has prescribed them then their expertise on the situation is probably better than the pharmacists own - as a result they should serve you. Doctor > Pharmacist.

zaksmum

Just ask the GP to prescribe them. My O/H gets 200 a time from his GP whereas you'd pay about £2 for 32 at a pharmacy.

paddyrg

Or ask the GP for a letter explaining that he says CC is ok with the other meds. Don't be upset at the pharmacy, they want to sell more tablets etc., but are trying to care for your mum's health.

BTW, the doctor vs pharmacist thing - both are specialist fields, both are taking responsibility for considering possible drug interactions. Indeed, the pharmacist may actually be correct to advise caution with the other medicines as possibly one has a high liver load, and the paracetamol does also, for instance.

melbell

bluenoseam wrote: »

I'd remind them that if the doctor has prescribed them then their expertise on the situation is probably better than the pharmacists own - as a result they should serve you. Doctor > Pharmacist.

Actually I'd trust a pharmacist over a doctor.

Doctor said to me can give me nothing to settle my stomach down as theres no medication to do that. Saw a pharmacist asked me a few questions and made me up a mix. Took it and bang in an hour, sorted out.only cost £4!

A pharmacist is more qualified than a doctor.

honey10

melbell wrote: »

Actually I'd trust a pharmacist over a doctor.

Doctor said to me can give me nothing to settle my stomach down as theres no medication to do that. Saw a pharmacist asked me a few questions and made me up a mix. Took it and bang in an hour, sorted out.only cost £4!

A pharmacist is more qualified than a doctor.

Although this may be true with regards to drugs, I'm not sure I'd want medical advice from one, nor a medical procedure. Pharmacists may know the drug, but not necessarily the patient.

melbell

honey10 wrote: »

Although this may be true with regards to drugs, I'm not sure I'd want medical advice from one, nor a medical procedure. Pharmacists may know the drug, but not necessarily the patient.

They can sort you out by mixing things up! Or recommending things.

honey10

melbell wrote: »

They can sort you out by mixing things up! Or recommending things.

That doesn't change the fact that they aren't medically qualified. Just because a drug won't interact with another drug that you are taking doesn't mean it will be suitable for you. A doctor would have a better idea, given that they can see your medical records.

An example would be, my nephew had earache. The pharmacist in the local chemist gave him some drugs without explaining what they were, just giving the 'take one three times a day' speech. it turned out they were antibiotics containing penicillin, which nearly killed him. A doctor wouldn't have prescribed them, so why should a pharmacist be able to?

I acknowledge that this may be a one-off, but I think illustrates the point I'm making.

patchwork_cat

bluenoseam wrote: »

I'd remind them that if the doctor has prescribed them then their expertise on the situation is probably better than the pharmacists own - as a result they should serve you. Doctor > Pharmacist.

Not when it comes to drug interactions. Pharmacists are frequently having to ring doctors to correct their errors.

It is a bugbear of mine that we have a resource of people very highly trained witha 4 yr Masters degree and a further post graduate registration after 1 year and yet we let Dr's prescribe when their training in this field is vastly inferior.

Your mum should be asking for a prescription for the co-codamol or be candid with the pharmacist there may well be a more suitable drug.

peachyprice

bluenoseam wrote: »

I'd remind them that if the doctor has prescribed them then their expertise on the situation is probably better than the pharmacists own - as a result they should serve you. Doctor > Pharmacist.

That would be all fine and dandy if the doctor has prescribed them, but they haven't.

All Sainsbury's pharmacy knows is that various members of the same family are coming in on a regular basis buying large quantities of an addictive pain killer.

They have done nothing wrong, and certainly don't deserve to be boycotted for doing their jobs properly. I bet OP would be up in arms if the same pharmacy was supplying large quantities of co-codamol to the local drug pusher to extract the codiene for freebasing.