Settle a bet

SeaFields

Hello,

Never posted in this thread but those in the knowledge may be able to settle a bet for me...

I work as a sales assistant in a city centre pharmacy. We had a very long evening tonight with no customers so a friendly conversation turned into a bit of a debate.

Heres the thing - most of the pharmacists I work with refer to the people they deal with as 'patients'. I can never understand this! I always refer to everyone as customers as we work in a retail environment as they are sold items. They are not treating them but simply filling a prescription where the doctor has done all the treating. The pharmacist tonight argues otherwise saying they are medical professionals and one of the series of steps in treating a 'patients' condition. (This debate started after he referred to girl who came in for her pill prescription and he described her as 'a patient')

Anyone who feels like throwing in their two cents to settle a bet for me, and save me a pint on Saturday night, feel free! Nothing too serious like...:D

"Patients" or "Customers"?

SomeDose

SeaFields wrote: »

Hello,

Never posted in this thread but those in the knowledge may be able to settle a bet for me...

I work as a sales assistant in a city centre pharmacy. We had a very long evening tonight with no customers so a friendly conversation turned into a bit of a debate.

Heres the thing - most of the pharmacists I work with refer to the people they deal with as 'patients'. I can never understand this! I always refer to everyone as customers as we work in a retail environment as they are sold items. They are not treating them but simply filling a prescription where the doctor has done all the treating. The pharmacist tonight argues otherwise saying they are medical professionals and one of the series of steps in treating a 'patients' condition. (This debate started after he referred to girl who came in for her pill prescription and he described her as 'a patient')

Anyone who feels like throwing in their two cents to settle a bet for me, and save me a pint on Saturday night, feel free! Nothing too serious like...:D

"Patients" or "Customers"?

Technically they are both, and it depends on who's dealing with them. For a pharmacist, the fact that they are customers in a retail environment is incidental. There is an input into their care (pharmaceutical, medical or otherwise) and the pharmacist has a professional and ethical duty of care to that person, therefore they are patients first and foremost. You yourself could consider them as customers only since you aren't bound by a duty of care.

Since you're on your way to the bar, mine's a Guinness!

DrIndy

It depends on your viewpoint - if a doctor has an obligation to treat someone who is unwell, then they are a patient - the person needs treatment and the doctor is obliged to provide it.

If someone chooses to have treatment - such as plastic surgery, then they are a client/customer. That is how i see it anyway.

sd123

Tbh, I'd see them as a customer. Ask your friends would they still be a patient if they were looking for cough medicine, or strepsils for a sore throat.

That said, it's obvious that a GP treats his patient, and yet he gets paid for it. Does that mean that the patient is a customer, paying for a service?

newballsplease

Customer imo- Your customers / Doctor's patients.......

jskinny_de

I see a pharmacy as a shop, therefore, customers not patients.

Matt Holck

charge me a hundred bucks after the fact and I ain't coming back

costumer

nesf

I'd follow the duty of care line to an extent. My pharmacists do check on things and query my prescriptions and are great for answering questions about drugs.

I'd say a lot of it is the wish of some pharmacists not to feel like the automatic drug dispensing machines that some of the public seem to view them as, their job is a lot more important than that, even if a lot of the public don't realise this.

SeaFields

Cheers for the replies lads.

I still think I'm right but certainly hen again I'm a stubborn so and so...

Certainly if it is a person who is on a various cocktail of drugs for a long term illness then the term 'patient' is appropriate. However say the example I gave of a girl getting a prescription filled for a contraceptive pill. This would be 'a customer', me thinks, as it is generally a medication taken by choice rather than necessity (even though it is prescription only).

Also, if the pharmacist is bound by a duty of care, as described above, then why do they continue to give out codeine containing OTC drugs to people who are obviously abusing them? The cynical side of me would say because if they stopped it would damage the achievement of their sales targets (i.e. retail environment).

All in all I think each of each can claim a victory in the debate to some degree and buy each other a pint

Cheers...!

DrIndy

Regarding codeine prescriptions - you do need to prove it......

they may be dependent, but they may have genuine pain. Its more than just the pharmacist though - its also the doctor who prescribes it so the problem is more complex.

Duty of care = patient
Choosing and browsing = customer

But since the prices of meds are much the same because of the markup of the pharmaceutical companies, you cannot really shop around for cheaper meds - so i believe everyone who goes to a pharmacist is a patient. Pharmacists are quite active at spotting big drug interactions - in fact I wish they were even more proactive. Most antibiotics interact with warfarin for example and in general because people attend a hospital clinic for their warfarin checks and not their GP - it is the pharmacist with the overall picture who can spot this.

anotherlostie

Patient if they are there to obtain medicine.

Customer if they are buying lipstick.

Of course there is nothing to prevent patients being treated with good customer service. Are there documents like customer charters in our hospitals now?

tallaght01

I don't care what we call anyone (within reason) as long as people stop trying to make me call patients "clients", so their job sounds more important!

Odysseus

tallaght01 wrote: »

I don't care what we call anyone (within reason) as long as people stop trying to make me call patients "clients", so their job sounds more important!

In one rehab centre where I used to work we had to call the "particpants" as the participated in their treatment. Service users is another one that I personally dislike.

DrIndy

Always patients. I steadfastly refuse to call anyone anything else!

John

I hate the term "clients".