Pharmacist wanting feedback please

[Jenni]

I'm a community pharmacist who's 5yo son was diagnosed T1 3 weeks ago. I'm fast learning that although I thought I knew a lot about diabetes and its treatment before, I actually knew very little! I would love to know what you all think pharmacies and Pharmacists could do to help all our diabetic patients manage their condition and medication. Please give me any and all suggestions that you have, and I promise to do my best to dramatically improve the service that my company provides to all diabetics and their parents/carers. Thank you :smile:

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[Asfmom]

That really is a tough one, I was told by my diabetic specialist midwife that noone knows more about diabetes than myself. It's come from 20 years of living with it. There's more to it than anyone can ever imagine. There's the psychological side, accepting it, or not! There'a the technical side, I spent some time in hospital when I was a teenager through by managing it properly, I had to tell the ward staff how to treat it and they wouldn't have any of it, until the diabetes consultant ame round and told them to listen to me. There's adapting with every life stage, teenage years, pregnancy, job stress, relationships as well as normal life events, driving, holidays, going for a walk. There's the medication, do you have time to inject, are you on the right insulin. Blood sugar levels are effected by the weather, having a cold, exercise or lack of, there's something different everyday. I think we need to start with just a basic understanding and appreciation that this is not just a case of a couple injections a day, there's massive impact and effect. I wouldn't know where to start with how to educate people, it would just be nice not to feel patronised at times. I'm sorry, that's not answered your question

 

[dawnmc]

Read Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution, loads of excellent info. More for Type 1's really, and might help with your son.

 

[lrw60]

Hi Jenni,

I think a way of getting your company to help would be to point them at this forum and say "read everything". There must be hundreds of us each posting our findings or problems, it would be good if someone could make sense of it and report to the medical profession. I for one would welcome any contact from your company or any other if they want to know about my diabetic experiences.

Lee.

 

[SewK8]

Hello Jenni

I hope your little boy is doing ok and well done for coping with work, a child and a job!

Regrading your post, I would say the one thing that does annoy me about chemists is that they take the decision for us with regard sugar free meds.

When ever I need cough mixture or meds, the staff always say something on the lines of, you will need the sugar free version, we dont do it, so you can't have it! If I ask to take it anyway I feel they think I am going to kill myself!

Quite frustrating when I have been type 1 for 28 yrs and know **** well what I can and can't have.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Kate

 

[Hobs]

For those of us with peripheral neuropathy and arthritis etc, dispensing meds without child proof caps and non blister packs would be a supreme improvement.

 

[hanadr]

I wish you and your little one all the best.
My own pharmacist is Brilliant! and does the perfect thing. She know Iknow what I'm talking about and backs me up in my choices of over-the counter medicines like cold cures etc.
hana

 

[noblehead]

Never really had many issues with Pharmacists and always found them helpful when asking for advice, some pharmacy's are quicker than others at dispensing meds and I tend to go to the one where you don't sit around waiting for half an hour for your prescription to made up.

My only gripe is often they don't have everything in and I have to go back for the remainder of the prescription or have it delivered, more often than enough its bg strips owing and the last time it was the 4mm needles I use, never use to have this problem and its only in the last year or two that this has happened, I understand that they can only carry so much stock but it would be great to come away with all the items you ordered.

 

[Gemima]

As a (hospital) pharmacist and a type 1 diabetic my major gripe is my own local pharmacy not having supplies and I have said to them from one professional to another, if you want my business and other customers with chronic conditions, then please keep stock of what I use, yes I use an odd monitor and therefore odd strips compared to most of your patients but now that you know this please keep at least one box in reserve instead of leaving me hanging with owings notes. Hope that doesn't seem cheeky!! That's my main complaint as I don't need to ask any other questions or ask for advice


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[kangoo]

They're trying to help, but I get annoyed when they tell me I can't use throat sweets and the like when a cold is affecting my ability to function more than diabetes. I have to get my strepsils, etc from a different shop.

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[anna29]

For those of us with peripheral neuropathy and arthritis etc, dispensing meds without child proof caps and non blister packs would be a supreme improvement.

This is a good and valid point :thumbup:
I struggle with the push down and twist off child proof caps and tops .
[need hubbys help and muscles to open these!]
Easier to open and predated [days of the week] for folk with poor memory non blister packaging would be great too .

Larger stronger boxes to hold pills and our MDI stuff would be an improvement too .
Its hard to store insulin pens in fridge in cardboard boxes - they will get damp in the coldness and go soggy !
Maybe a plastic easy to open box marked with the days of week/month on it ?

Hope you are adapting okay with supporting your own child with their diabetes .
It is always harder when its your own child , I understand .
At work its usually more clinically and medically easier to cope with .

Thank you for considering raising awareness with any pharmacy issues/points of veiws .
Any improvement is certainly progress and steps taken in the right direction for us 'all' .

Anna.

 

[Geocacher]

I've had many amusing experiences with pharmacists, some of which will never again get my custom, and are very lucky that all they got was a letter of complaint.

There are simply some things that shouldn't be discussed in public and within hearing of other customers. It would be more appropriate for someone to ask a customer if they require additional advice or to take them aside into a private area to loudly and openly question why they may need thrush cream or why their doctor has prescribed a certain medication. If for no other reason then out of respect for their privacy.

 

[sarahg0810]

I'm really surprised at my local pharmacist. I was prescribed metformin at my second diabetes education session. When I took my prescription to the pharmacist he said he would be calling me a couple of times to check how I was coping with it.......and he did!!!! He has checked how it's going and if I'm suffering any ill effects!!! Happily I haven't, but it's very reassuring that they are so good!!! I will definitely be continuing to use the same pharmacy in future!!!! :0)


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[Jenni]

For those of us with peripheral neuropathy and arthritis etc, dispensing meds without child proof caps and non blister packs would be a supreme improvement.

Hobs - I'm sure if you ask your pharmacy to do that they would be more than happy to oblige - I do this for several patients already. We are obliged by law to dispense in childproof containers unless requested otherwise by the patient, so ask them to put an alert on your records so all staff, locums etc are aware

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[Jenni]

Thanks all for your feedback so far, its really useful and much appreciated and I take it all on board. Regarding pharmacies not always having enough stock in, please let me reassure you that I share this concern, as I know how it impacts patients (and it also impacts my workload too!!) Unfortunately the nature if community pharmacy is such that we don't know what prescriptions are going to come through the door on any given day, and although I aim to keep at least a week's worth of stock on my shelves, sometimes that average weeks volume of a particular item can go on just one or two high-volume prescriptions. To compound this, national stock shortages in the last 2 years or so have led many products to be put on "restricted supply" by the manufacturers. This means they make a guess at how many each pharmacy uses in a month, set this as a quota, and it can't be exceeded regardless of how many prescriptions we get that month. Aviva test strips and lantus solostar are 2 such products that have had this issue in recent months. As a profession pharmacy is lobbying the manufacturer's and government to try and find a solution to this ridiculous situation. Any pharmacist worth their salt though will always do their utmost to keep adequate stock in, but regrettably sometimes things are outwith our control.
Please keep the feedback coming, I really appreciate it, and I can promise you its already impacting my day to day practice.
Jenni

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[anna29]

For those of us with peripheral neuropathy and arthritis etc, dispensing meds without child proof caps and non blister packs would be a supreme improvement.

Hobs - I'm sure if you ask your pharmacy to do that they would be more than happy to oblige - I do this for several patients already. We are obliged by law to dispense in childproof containers unless requested otherwise by the patient, so ask them to put an alert on your records so all staff, locums etc are aware

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Thanks for this Jenni - I will be putting this request forward to my own pharmacy .
Didnt realise you can do this ...
Great to hear and know about and would certainly help me immensely too :thumbup:

Anna .

 

[Montana]

Helpful pharmacists?

Hi Jenni gosh thats a tall order. Me thinks pharmacy's need a full overhall regarding customers who know whats best for them. Although I do have fairly helpful pharmacist he does not like me to bring to his attention certain difficulties i face with some of his prescription meds. I live on my own and have arthritic hands/fingers so cannot open screwtops or blister packs. He used to stock a certain brand of Tramadol and changed it to one that i have great difficulty in opening the blister packs as they are much harder to pop and them the drug inside would often break through. I was told to use a knife or something sharp to prize open. I explained that i take 8 per day and would find it hard. Now i have to ask my gp to put it on a seperate prescription so i can take it elsewhere to get the ones i find easier to open. I also find I'm given meds that contain sugar and its not until I get home and read P I Leaflet- when he includes one- that i find out. The list is endless! ! !

 

[EllisB]

Jenni,

this one is not just for diabetics; so many tablets have lactose in as a filler and many doctors are still oblivious to lactose intolerance, meaning that patients don't know there is lactose in their prescription until they read the leaflet in the box, by which time the meds are wasted.

Just as you can make a note about not using child-proof lids, it would be useful to be able to put a note about lactose intolerance and have it flagged up by the pharmacist if the tablets do contain lactose - especially when brands change. There may well be other 'inactive' ingredients that can cause problems for some folks.

I don't understand why drug international companies manufacture tablets that 60% of the world population cannot take!

 

[candiloo]

It affects everyone differently and we know best what works for us as individuals, but it would be nice for someone to actually care. If the book of carbs and cals could be more widely available in the chemist instead of just Amazon, that would help, along with close monitoring/monitors and strips/diaries to help pinpoint what makes the levels rise. A lot of people can't get test strips without paying, and we need regular monitoring to know if something specific affects the level.

 

[novoguy]

Hi I do hope your little one is OK .I think this is great that you care enough to ask what people think, so that it might help you in your pharmacy ,Good on you .
My pharmacist is a Lloyds one ,the pits it takes them 3 to 4 days to get my meds ready even though I need them every month they never keep them in stock ,Why they know we need them all the time, it drives me nuts .I am unlucky I have a bad Dr s practice and bad pharmacy and cant change them as i live in the country .I do like my GP just not the way they run the practice ,lol.
Just as a thought why not do a form up at your pharmacy asking the diabetic patients for any feed back just slip it in the when they pick up their pills and stuff I am sure they will appreciate it .Good luck with your own son .