any pharmacists on here ?

Legacy_user

can anyone tell me of any guidelines that should be followed when a prescription is written .
general info my dd was given a scrip at A+E by a doctor it was written in pink pen it had the following days date on it and for the doctors info all it had was "GP [no name] A+E then the hospitals name"
the chemist refused to accept it but the doctor is saying it was ok , who is right here ?

Armchair23

I can only offer personal experience which is that a prescription issued at the hospital had to be filled at the hospital pharmacy. Failing that I could take the script to my GP surgery and they would then give me a standard prescription I could take to any pharmacy.

System

the hospital pharmacy was closed so i had to take ther prescription to a local chemist who refused to accept it .

mr_rush

Hospital prescriptions (unless written on a FP10) are usually only valid at the hospital pharmacy.

jenniewb

Agree, I've been given hospital prescriptions when the hospital pharmacy has been closed (perhaps because it was 4am) but I was told clearly by the doctor giving the prescription that I would only be able to get the prescription internally and that I'd have to wait.

Maybe you could speak to your GP and get the prescription rewritten from them? Thats if they aren't pain killers or antibiotics where your mid-way through something.

System

the prescription was a normal green on not a hospital one, they refused it because of the way it was written and they contacted the hospital and i had to wait for a new one to be faxed over.

VfM4meplse

mr_rush wrote: »

Hospital prescriptions (unless written on a FP10) are usually only valid at the hospital pharmacy.

Not true, the community pharmacist could treat it as a private script although I suspect that wouldn't be palatable to the patient.

CHRISSYG wrote: »

the prescription was a normal green on not a hospital one, they refused it because of the way it was written and they contacted the hospital and i had to wait for a new one to be faxed over.

From what you say, some legal information was missing from the script which would have made it illegal for the pharmacy to dispense. This doesn't surprise me when you think about how little training junior doctors have in writing FP10s. As part of their duty of care, the pharmacist does need to ensure that a script hasn't been issued fraudulently (it does happen unfortunately).

To their credit, the pharmacy did the right thing in sorting out the situation for you - often involving a lot of hassle in tracking down the doctor, explaining the problem, waiting for them to take action etc - so I wouldn't worry about it. It did put you out a bit, but the pharmacist was acting perfectly correctly.

Hope this answers your concerns.

pmduk

It might be worth contacting PALS at the hospital to ensure that the doctor receives the necessary training

VfM4meplse

pmduk wrote: »

It might be worth contacting PALS at the hospital to ensure that the doctor receives the necessary training

Lol - junior doctors come and go - I'm sure this one will have taken note of the pharmacist's advice in order to avoid a repeat scenario, remember they are under significant time pressure to see as many patients as quickly as possible and in the scheme of things this is a very minor lapse...A&E medics are not known for having time to twiddle their thumbs after all. PALS in this case would be inappropriate, the system did ensure that the OP got their meds. Save PALS' expertise for something serious.

System

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Not true, the community pharmacist could treat it as a private script although I suspect that wouldn't be palatable to the patient.
From what you say, some legal information was missing from the script which would have made it illegal for the pharmacy to dispense. This doesn't surprise me when you think about how little training junior doctors have in writing FP10s. As part of their duty of care, the pharmacist does need to ensure that a script hasn't been issued fraudulently (it does happen unfortunately).

To their credit, the pharmacy did the right thing in sorting out the situation for you - often involving a lot of hassle in tracking down the doctor, explaining the problem, waiting for them to take action etc - so I wouldn't worry about it. It did put you out a bit, but the pharmacist was acting perfectly correctly.

Hope this answers your concerns.

Ive no issues with the pharmacy they did what they had to , the doctor in question wasn't a junior doctor she was a GP who apparently does some shifts in a+e.
i did contact pals and would have left it at that but Ive had such a snotty letter from her where she is stating there are no legal guidelines to follow and she has done nothing wrong and the pharmacist was in the wrong not to dispense it , i want to reply so im just trying to find some kind of guidelines.

VfM4meplse

I see. It seems to me that this GP has become accustomed to using a computer system to prescribe in surgery, where a lot of things are automated. It sounds as though she's just forgotten the full legal requirements to order a medicine on a handwritten script.

I'd forget about it if I were you.