xml:lang="en-GB" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en-GB">
BBC NEWS | Health | Pharmacy advice 'frequently poor'
@import "/css/screen/shared/v4/mastheadfooter.css?v59";
@import "/css/screen/shared/v4/styles.css?v59";
@import "/css/screen/shared/emp.css?v59";
@import "/css/screen/nol/v4/styles.css?v59";
@import "/css/screen/nol/v4/furniture.css?v59";
@import "/css/screen/nol/v4/promo.css?v59";
var emp_load = new bbc.emp_fmtj({});
Accessibility links
Skip to content
Skip to bbc.co.uk search
Low graphics
Accessibility Help
Access keys help
Search term
Explore the BBC
BBC News Updated every minute of every day
BBC News channel
News Front Page
World
UK
England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Business
Politics
Health
Medical notes
Education
Science & Environment
Technology
Entertainment
Also in the news
-----------------
Video and Audio
-----------------
Have Your Say
Magazine
In Pictures
Country Profiles
Special Reports
Related BBC sites
Sport
Weather
Radio 1 Newsbeat
CBBC Newsround
On This Day
Editors' Blog
Site Version
UK Version
International Version
About the versions
Page last updated at 10:07 GMT, Thursday, 25 September 2008 11:07 UK
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
Pharmacy advice 'frequently poor'
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
emp_load.getEmpEmbeddedParams("emp_7635024");
Shoppers react to their exeprience with pharmacy staff
Staff at pharmacies are frequently giving inappropriate and occasionally dangerous advice to patients, a survey has suggested.
Staff at Which? magazine visited 101 pharmacies in the UK, and claimed they received "unsatisfactory" advice on a third of occasions.
In some instances, powerful migraine drugs were sold without any supervision by the pharmacist.
One pharmacy body said its own "mystery shoppers" had seen improvements.
The government and pharmacy organisations are keen for some medicines previously available only with a GP prescription to be dispensed "over-the-counter".
However, this often relies on pharmacy teams asking the right questions before selling the medicine, and the Which? survey suggests this is not always happening.
They found that independent pharmacies were most likely to give the wrong advice, or not carry out the right checks.
The Which? staff confronted the pharmacies with one of three scenarios - a request to buy "Imigran Recovery", a migraine medication; a patient complaining of two weeks' of diarrhoea after returning from abroad, and a request for the "morning-after pill" designed to test whether a customer's privacy could be respected.
Imigran Recovery should only be dispensed following a series of questions set by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, but Which? ranked 13 out of 35 visits as "unsatisfactory".
In 40% of the 13, the pharmacy assistant did not even alert the pharmacist before handing over the drug.
The patient with travellers' diarrhoea should have been asked about symptoms and advised to see a GP if they had not already done so, in case the diarrhoea was due to a serious infection.
However, 14 out of 32 visits were "unsatisfactory", with one assistant suggesting the symptoms were caused by irritable bowel syndrome instead.
Indiscreet questions
The request for emergency contraception was dealt with poorly in seven out of 34 visits - in two pharmacies, the woman was questioned about her sex life within earshot of other customers.
Neil Fowler, the editor of Which?, said: "People are increasingly turning to pharmacies for the sort of advice they might have gone to their GP for in the past - but we're concerned that in some cases they're getting advice which is unsuitable and potentially unsafe."
The National Pharmacy Association, which represents community pharmacies, said that while the survey was reassuring about the skills of pharmacists themselves, it showed there was "room for further improvement" in other pharmacy staff.
A spokesman said: "In this study the expertise of the pharmacist is shining through. Work needs to be done to increase the support given to the whole of the pharmacy team."
She said the association had been "encouraged" by the results of its own "mystery shopping" exercise.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society agreed that there were issues that needed to be addressed, but said that the survey covered fewer than 1% of all pharmacies in the UK.
A Department of Health spokesman said its research had shown the public was satisfied with pharmacy services.
But he said that April's pharmacy White Paper set out plans for measures to deal with "unwarranted variations" in standards and quality of service delivery.
"We are currently consulting on proposals to enable primary care trusts to take effective action where contractors are not achieving acceptable performance standards."
Have you received incorrect medical advice from a pharmacist? Are you a pharmacist? What challenges do you face when trying to give a customer medical advice? Send us your comments using the form below:
Name
Your E-mail address
Town & Country
Phone number (optional):
Comments
The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.
Terms & Conditions
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
Bookmark with:
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
What are these?
SEE ALSO
Chemists 'to offer GP services'
03 Apr 08 |
Health
Pharmacies to widen pill access
13 Dec 07 |
Health
Pharmacies to sell migraine drug
19 May 06 |
Health
RELATED INTERNET LINKS
National Pharmacy Association
Which?
Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
TOP HEALTH STORIES
Pharmacy advice 'frequently poor'
Hollywood 'paid fortune to smoke'
EU limits imported Chinese food
getRssUrlStory('/rss/newsonline_uk_edition/health/rss.xml')
MOST POPULAR STORIES NOW
function liveStatsTabs(newTab,oldTab) {
if (document.getElementById)
{
document.getElementById(newTab).style.display = "inline";
document.getElementById(oldTab).style.display = "none";
return false;
}
else if (document.all)
{
document.all[oldTab].style.display = "none";
document.all[newTab].style.display = "inline";
return false;
}
else {
return true;
}
}
E-MAILED
READ
WATCHED/LISTENED
Irish economy goes into recession
Pilot postpones jetpack adventure
Foreign national ID card unveiled
Hollywood 'paid fortune to smoke'
Court challenge for parking fines
Most popular now, in detail
E-MAILED
READ
WATCHED/LISTENED
Footballer in drink-drive probe
Irish economy goes into recession
Milder and drier winter predicted
Blaine back on feet after stunt
US rivals in economy crisis talks
Most popular now, in detail
E-MAILED
READ
WATCHED/LISTENED
Airbag made for Japan's elderly
US army robot suits tested
Rocketman flies in the skies
Top shops open despite crunch
BBC News channel
Most popular now, in detail
liveStatsTabs('livestats1450','livestats1451');
liveStatsTabs('livestats1450','livestats1454');
FEATURES, VIEWS, ANALYSIS
Macca in Israel
A bout of belated Beatlemania breaks out in Tel Aviv
Softening up?
Are migrants being 'guinea pigs' for national ID cards?
Steer clear
What's the secret of a really good road sign?
Skip to top
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
E-mail news
Mobiles
Alerts
News feeds
Interactive TV
Podcasts
Explore the BBC
Home
Popular links
Merlin
Strictly Come Dancing
Electric Proms
BBC links A to F
BBC iPlayer
CBBC
CBeebies
Food
BBC links H to L
Health
History
Learning
Local & Nations
BBC links M to Sc
Music
News
Radio
Science & Nature
BBC links Sp to W
Sport
TV
Weather
A whole lot more
To top
Site Links
News Sources
About BBC News
BBC links
About the BBC
BBC Help
Contact Us
Accessibility Help
Terms of Use
Jobs
Privacy & Cookies
© MMVIII
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
[Via BBC News | Health | UK Edition]
Other news:
