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Bad pharmacy service

Posted By Waiter

"Bad pharmacy service"

About: Queen Elizabeth Hospital (London)

(as a relative),

Went to queen elizabeth hospital pharmacy for my husbands usual prescription of chemotherapy pills. Went for coffee then returned to pick them up. Told not ready although the ticket number was way past our number. A different staff member then said they would check. It turned out they couldn’t dispense until the prescription had been screened by a clinical pharmacist and it would mean a wait if two hours!  

I wanted to know why this was not told to us earlier. Then told the member of staff taking the prescription was being trained and didn’t understand things. It is a responsible position and that staff member should have had supervision which was not evident, compounded by them just saying the scrip was not ready with no reason given. 

Not a very good service.

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Responses

Response from Queen Elizabeth Hospital 5 years ago
Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Submitted on 30/08/2019 at 11:39
Published on nhs.uk at 12:06

Thank you for your feedback. I am sorry that your experience was so negative, and for the inadequate service you received.

The member of staff who served you was very new to the role and, although they had received training on the variety of prescriptions we process at the hospital, they missed that your husband’s prescription required review by a specialist pharmacist and there would be a longer wait. When you returned to collect the medication you were told that the prescription was not ready but given no reason. Had a more detailed investigation been conducted it could have been ascertained how much longer it would take to complete, and you could then have made an informed decision about whether to wait or call back at another time.

This error has been discussed with the team and the importance of providing accurate information reiterated. We are aware that the process of the prescription being received by Lloyds and then transferred to a specialist pharmacist for approval is not ideal, and the Trust is working with both Lloyds & the prescribers to streamline and improve the patient pathway.

We hope that this will reduce patient waiting times in the future and provide a better patient experience overall.

We sincerely apologise for the incorrect information that you were given and the lack of clear communication provided and hope that the changes that have been made will prevent this situation arising again.

Kind regards

Deputy Chief Pharmacist

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust 5 years ago
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

Submitted on 30/08/2019 at 12:13
Published on Care Opinion at 12:13

Thank you for your feedback. I am sorry that your experience was so negative, and for the inadequate service you received.

The member of staff who served you was very new to the role and, although they had received training on the variety of prescriptions we process at the hospital, they missed that your husband’s prescription required review by a specialist pharmacist and there would be a longer wait. When you returned to collect the medication you were told that the prescription was not ready but given no reason. Had a more detailed investigation been conducted it could have been ascertained how much longer it would take to complete, and you could then have made an informed decision about whether to wait or call back at another time.

This error has been discussed with the team and the importance of providing accurate information reiterated. We are aware that the process of the prescription being received by Lloyds and then transferred to a specialist pharmacist for approval is not ideal, and the Trust is working with both Lloyds & the prescribers to streamline and improve the patient pathway. We hope that this will reduce patient waiting times in the future and provide a better patient experience overall.

We sincerely apologise for the incorrect information that you were given and the lack of clear communication provided and hope that the changes that have been made will prevent this situation arising again.

Kind regards

Deputy Chief Pharmacist

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
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