Pharmacists - why so slow?

stefanovich · 27-03-2016 01:59PM #1

Rarely have to visit the chemists as I am generally never sick enough to require medication. When filling a prescription for my wife for penicillin both times the pharmacist took a very long time. What are they doing? Are they just lazy? What's so complicated about putting a few pills in a container? Are their computer systems slow? Are they slow? What gives?

Raging_Ninja · 27-03-2016 02:00PM

stefanovich wrote: »

Rarely have to visit the chemists as I am generally never sick enough to require medication. When filling a prescription for my wife for penicillin both times the pharmacist took a very long time. What are they doing? Are they just lazy? What's so complicated about putting a few pills in a container? Are their computer systems slow? Are they slow? What gives?

Legislation and regulations regarding the sale of prescription drugs and the bureaucratic requirements that need to be met.

stefanovich · 27-03-2016 02:01PM

Raging_Ninja wrote: »

Legislation and regulations regarding the sale of prescription drugs.

They are filling out forms?

Raging_Ninja · 27-03-2016 02:02PM

stefanovich wrote: »

They are filling out forms?

Amongst other things. It's a heavily regulated industry. They might also need to make up the drugs themselves if they are compounded.

SEPT 23 1989 · 27-03-2016 02:02PM

They need to decode the doctors handwriting

Pink Fairy · 27-03-2016 02:04PM

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

They need to decode the doctors handwriting

Genuinely, this is a problem, many phone calls have had to be made to speak to doctors to sort out doseage amounts

Miaireland · 27-03-2016 02:07PM

Also if your wife is on other medication they have to check there is no interaction etc. Also they are probably working on other prescriptions not just yours.

Calibos · 27-03-2016 02:15PM

Pink Fairy wrote: »

Genuinely, this is a problem, many phone calls have had to be made to speak to doctors to sort out doseage amounts

It's amazing that one of the few professions where illegible handwriting can cost lives, is the profession most renowned for poor handwriting.

byhookorbycrook · 27-03-2016 02:25PM

I'd prefer them to be slow rather than to make a mistake. I am on quite a lot of medication and would always cross heck, but many people don't.

sheesh · 27-03-2016 02:27PM

to quote Jerry Seinfield 'I gotta take these tablets out of this big bottle and put them in a little bottle ,,,, and type out on this little piece of paper.'

stefanovich · 27-03-2016 02:29PM

Miaireland wrote: »

Also if your wife is on other medication they have to check there is no interaction etc. Also they are probably working on other prescriptions not just yours.

It was fairly empty today in fairness. There was one other person who may have been waiting. There were 3 people working there.

Dravokivich · 27-03-2016 02:33PM

I think its annoying that one I encountered on black Friday decided to prioritise selling shampoo instead of giving me an inhaler that was clearly stated to be for a child on the script. I'll only go to them now if I needed to.

maudgonner · 27-03-2016 02:36PM

Dravokivich wrote: »

I think its annoying that one I encountered on black Friday decided to prioritise selling shampoo instead of giving me an inhaler that was clearly stated to be for a child on the script. I'll only go to them now if I needed to.

Was the child having an asthma attack there and then? If the inhaler wasn't needed urgently, why should you get to skip the queue?

Senna · 27-03-2016 02:40PM

Calibos wrote: »

It's amazing that one of the few professions where illegible handwriting can cost lives, is the profession most renowned for poor handwriting.

It's one of the only professions where you regularly see handwriting. The bad handwriting being more common in doctors is just a myth.

suicide_circus · 27-03-2016 02:42PM

Senna wrote: »

It's one of the only professions where you regularly see handwriting. The bad handwriting being more common in doctors is just a myth.

Ha never thought of that!/good point

MrPudding · 27-03-2016 03:10PM

I think there are a couple of reason for this. The first, as someone pointed out, is that there may be some preparation involved. Not all the medication is in blister packs ready to go, sometime pills will need to be counted into bottles or some other medicines are actually mixed or otherwise prepared.

The other side is the checks that need to be carried out. My mum works as a dispenser in a pharmacy. She will prepare the prescriptions, but then a pharmacist will have to check it, she will then check it again before it is handed over. If the pharmacist has popped out for a pee then nothing goes out.

Even when there is no apparent queue they may actually be quite busy. In the one my mum work in they typically have to prepare around 200 repeat prescriptions each day, on top of walk in prescriptions, people looking for advice or people simply buying stuff. So even when it doesn't looks busy there does tend to be quite a bit going on. It isn't simply a case of chucking something in a bag and handing it over.

Also, some pharmacists are really lazy.

MrP

rubadub · 27-03-2016 03:18PM

If the system and themselves were fast & efficient you would be complaining about the high dispensing fees. Like a dodgy plumber scratching his arse for a good hour after he changed a washer in 2mins.

Is handwritten prescriptions a legal thing? you would think they should be typed out for clarity and to more easily have a record. In my work I send out loads of emails so I have a written clear record of what was said/requested.

Stheno · 27-03-2016 03:20PM

rubadub wrote: »

If the system and themselves were fast & efficient you would be complaining about the high dispensing fees. Like a dodgy plumber scratching his arse for a good hour after he changed a washer in 2mins.

Is handwritten prescriptions a legal thing? you would think they should be typed out for clarity and to more easily have a record. In my work I send out loads of emails so I have a written clear record of what was said/requested.

My doctor does printed prescriptions

artanevilla · 27-03-2016 03:24PM

EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE.

Water John · 27-03-2016 03:26PM

Well from disclosed recently with the average pharmacy clearing 1/4M a year, its better than owning a bookies.

Very few prescription medication is actually made up and they all have pill counting machines.

Samaris · 27-03-2016 03:27PM

maudgonner wrote: »

Was the child having an asthma attack there and then? If the inhaler wasn't needed urgently, why should you get to skip the queue?

I'm curious as to this point too. Queue's a queue. Unless the child was having an asthma attack right then and there (emergencies are, ofc, outside normal rules), a customer having to wait an extra few minutes in a queue (on Black Friday!) for another legit customer is...yeah, pretty par for the course.

Dr Turk Turkelton · 27-03-2016 03:31PM

Samaris wrote: »

I'm curious as to this point too. Queue's a queue. Unless the child was having an asthma attack right then and there (emergencies are, ofc, outside normal rules), a customer having to wait an extra few minutes in a queue (on Black Friday!) for another legit customer is...yeah, pretty par for the course.

WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

Lucyfur · 27-03-2016 03:54PM

I personally think they should meet you at the door with big giant bags of drugs.

Korat · 27-03-2016 04:01PM

Some pharmacies are just weird. I went to get Nurofen for a friend and the nearest pharmacy was one of those old style ones that has been there for years. After waiting what seemed like an eternity, a woman in her 40s served me and I asked her for Nurofen. She asked me what it was for (a question I really wasn't expecting for Nurofen) and I said I didn't know because I was just getting it for a friend.

She then goes into the back and eventually another woman comes out and asks me where I live. At that point I just said forget it I'm not trying to buy morphine and walked out.

I went to another pharmacy not much further up the road, a more modern one, and a girl in her 20s handed over the Nurofen no questions asked.

Dravokivich · 28-03-2016 02:09PM

maudgonner wrote: »

Was the child having an asthma attack there and then? If the inhaler wasn't needed urgently, why should you get to skip the queue?

There was no queue. I went straight to the pharmicists counter and all they'd talk about to me was black friday. I wasn't going to wait around for 45 minutes for them to sell cosmetics then pull a couple of boxes off the shelf.

Samaris · 28-03-2016 02:21PM

Dravokivich wrote: »

There was no queue. I went straight to the pharmicists counter and all they'd talk about to me was black friday. I wasn't going to wait around for 45 minutes for them to sell cosmetics then pull a couple of boxes off the shelf.

If there was no-one else there, why were they selling someone else shampoo? Were they selling it to each other?

Ronaldinho · 28-03-2016 02:24PM

Calibos wrote: »

It's amazing that one of the few professions where illegible handwriting can cost lives, is the profession most renowned for poor handwriting.

I always thought the reason that doctors' handwriting was so messy was to make is more difficult for someone to forge a prescription!

Dravokivich · 28-03-2016 02:29PM

Samaris wrote: »

If there was no-one else there, why were they selling someone else shampoo? Were they selling it to each other?

I said shampoo to indicate how ridiculous it was that they as a pharmacy weren't focused on dispensing prescriptions. I handed the script over, the assistant came back and said I'd have to wait 45 minutes because of Black Friday. There was 3 other people in the shop and they were looking at the shelves.

Anita Blow · 28-03-2016 02:31PM

Korat wrote: »

Some pharmacies are just weird. I went to get Nurofen for a friend and the nearest pharmacy was one of those old style ones that has been there for years. After waiting what seemed like an eternity, a woman in her 40s served me and I asked her for Nurofen. She asked me what it was for (a question I really wasn't expecting for Nurofen) and I said I didn't know because I was just getting it for a friend.

She then goes into the back and eventually another woman comes out and asks me where I live. At that point I just said forget it I'm not trying to buy morphine and walked out.

I went to another pharmacy not much further up the road, a more modern one, and a girl in her 20s handed over the Nurofen no questions asked.

She's doing her job because NSAIDs like Nurofen don't come without certain risks. A few background questions are asked to make sure it doesn't do you any harm and if there are any contraindications she can offer you another similar drug without the same risks. And of course if it's Nurofen Plus then she is obliged to ask because it contains codeine (converted to Morphine when you take it).

biko · 28-03-2016 04:02PM

I find that asking the chemist directly is usually faster than asking the internet.

mirrorwall14 · 28-03-2016 04:14PM

My pharmacy takes orders for monthly scripts over the phone so the pharmacist could be doing them. I ring in the morning and say can I pick up my prescription later. They do it up at some stage and I collect a few hours later. Win win

Pharmacists - why so slow?

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