Being quizzed by chemist's assistant in Boots.

BlueBelle

Curtaintwitcher

Illegal immigrants use pharmacists when they need medicine but aren't registered with a doctor, so it is necessary to ask personal questions. However, as others have said, you are entitled to privacy.

Amazing how you can managed to bring it round to an immigrant causing a problem Curtaintwitcher
Perhaps the pharmacist or doctor helping you is an immigrant think on!
If someone stood on my foot you’d say I bet that was an immigrant 🤣

What a nasty post Runaroundsue

So how does the pharmacist decide if the customer is an ‘illegal immigrant’ and in what way is it any of their business

Another round of support for germanshepherdsmum from me. One of the kindest posters and always willing to offer well informed advice to others. We are at opposite ends of some political views but I’ve never received anything other than courtesy - even when disagreeing strongly

Least you managed to apologise netherbyg84 hopefully they can raise how difficult is asking personal questions at the counter and save others from your bad experience.

Embarrassment as we are often told stops many people from seeking help. Perhaps we should just acclimatise ourselves to oversharing with the use of programmes like naked bodies, or whatever it’s called, and that older programme about embarrassing health problems etc they could be broadcast on prime time tv like the soaps!

I was in my local pharmacy trying to decide which product might be best when I realised I was overhearing a private consultation in a makeshift consultation room. If the person inside discovers that folk outside can hear everything I think they will be very very embarrassed.

I was a pharmacy dispenser and we were trained according to strict government guidelines. All the questioning is legally required.
Some pharmacists require a questionnaire to be completed to make their job easier as they have a highly pressurised job.
There are frequent mystery shoppers who are government inspectors making sure that the correct questions are asked.
The OP should have asked to speak somewhere privately if that is what they wanted. Asking for a pharmacist shouldn't be the first question as the person on the counter could be a dispenser who can diagnose minor ailments and just needs to ask the pharmacist to sign off the correct medication. Your medical history is important as conditions and medication are sometimes incompatible.
My advice to the OP is to try another pharmacy as this new additional service is in its infancy and pharmacies are more stretched than ever. You WILL be asked intrusive questions though, just ask for privacy. The person on the counter knows what they are doing.

Curtaintwitcher

Illegal immigrants use pharmacists when they need medicine but aren't registered with a doctor, so it is necessary to ask personal questions. However, as others have said, you are entitled to privacy.

Amazing how you can managed to bring it round to an immigrant causing a problem Curtaintwitcher
Perhaps the pharmacist or doctor helping you is an immigrant think on!
If someone stood on my foot you’d say I bet that was an immigrant 🤣

What a nasty post Runaroundsue

Netherbyg84 Wed 17-Apr-24 16:19:08
The Germanshepherd poster, I have noticed, gives quite snappy replies.

Has she never been rude to somebody and then apologised?

I totally agree, I have never seen the Germanshepherd poster give a non snappy reply. When I see the name I just ignore it.

Seriously?? Whatever happened to basic common sense and asking outright, before a full conversation gets underway, "Could we please go somewhere a little more private?" Not difficult is it?

Illegal immigrants use pharmacists when they need medicine but aren't registered with a doctor, so it is necessary to ask personal questions. However, as others have said, you are entitled to privacy.

The counter assistant sounds as if they were rather full of their own self-importance. Give some people a title, a name badge and a uniform and they think they're MI5.

I do hope this Jobsworth is bound by a rule of confidentiality - you hope.

FoghornLeghorn

I once went into Boots to get a prescription filled and suffered the indignity of the counter assistant screeching out ‘Vagifem’ at the top of her voice. Fortunately I’m not easily embarrassed but I did ask her if she’d like a megaphone so that more of the store could hear her.

on first reading i thought this was some kind of vitamin B enriched food supplement,
but maybe that's vegimite.

Redhead56

My DH was red faced when the assistant shouted out Mr R what flavour Fibagel do you want all over the shop

For heavens sake, Why?
Fybogel is hardly the same as flavoured condoms, Tena ladies or Anusol suppositories!

My DH was red faced when the assistant shouted out Mr R what flavour Fibagel do you want all over the shop

I once went into Boots to get a prescription filled and suffered the indignity of the counter assistant screeching out ‘Vagifem’ at the top of her voice. Fortunately I’m not easily embarrassed but I did ask her if she’d like a megaphone so that more of the store could hear her.

Redhead56

Our pharmacy in the health centre has been modernised just recently the staff at the counter are now elevated above the counter and the customers. Any conversation is heard by all in the shop as people have to queue single file right in front of the counter.
Basic questions have to be asked to ascertain whether relevant for a pharmacist consultation. However having details shouted out for all to hear is not acceptable. There is no need to be rude but there clearly is a need for privacy when giving out personal details.

However having details shouted out for all to hear is not acceptable

It most certainly is not.

I have a problem with my digestive system - and I would refuse to discuss the effects that certain medications have on it in front of random shoppers. It's intimate and personal and no-one should be compromised like that.

Our pharmacy in the health centre has been modernised just recently the staff at the counter are now elevated above the counter and the customers. Any conversation is heard by all in the shop as people have to queue single file right in front of the counter.
Basic questions have to be asked to ascertain whether relevant for a pharmacist consultation. However having details shouted out for all to hear is not acceptable. There is no need to be rude but there clearly is a need for privacy when giving out personal details.

The list of things that they advise you to see a pharmacist about is pretty basic and I think most of the advice would end with "If it hasn't improved in a few days you need to see your GP"

Like growstuff I can't imagine our pharmacist having much time to advise anyone. There is a queue of people in the pharmacy all day.

Theexwife

Without asking the questions it would not be known if a pharmacist appointment was nessersary.

Or if a pharmacist could deal with the problem. My understanding is that there is a specific list of conditions which pharmacists are allowed to prescribe for. It could very well have been that the pharmacist couldn't help and a GP appointment would have been necessary anyway. I know that my local pharmacists are run off their feet and they don't have the time to go through all the symptoms, only to tell someone in the end that they can't help.

I have also found that I am advised to go to the GP. I haven’t actually seen a GP for years, usually a nurse or paramedic. I do think every pharmacist should have a private space where you can speak confidentially whatever you have.

Marydoll

DiamondLily

Every time I’ve asked my pharmacist for any help, no matter what it’s for, they’ve told me (with my meds list and history), that I need to see a GP.🤷‍♀️

Same thing happened to me recently, but I have no objection to that. I am so many medications, there is always a risk of contra-indications.

The Germanshepherd poster, I have noticed, gives quite snappy replies.
Has she never been rude to somebody and then apologised?

I find that comment quite rude!

Same thing happened to me recently, but I have no objection to that. I am so many medications, there is always a risk of contra-indications.

Similarly - "you need to have a chat with your doctor". Yes, I think pharmacists are going to play safe rather than sorry.

A few years ago, a hospital pharmacist checking my drug collection noticed something about my condition that made her question one of the medications prescribed by the consultant. He concurred with her and changed the drug. Which was quite impressive as my condition at the time was complex and unusual, but the pharmacist had the extensive knowledge sufficient to make the query. I have faith in them.

I find that comment quite rude!

I thought it was rude also.

we are extremely lucky with our doctor's surgery. Typical conversation last week:

Me: B** I need some more painkillers do I need to speak to Dr J** (all first names)
B**: Don't worry Liz, I will do that for you

Prescription was at pharmacy next day

I agree with every word in Luckgirl’s
post. Pharmacists are indeed highly trained but they are not doctors. They are not trained to diagnose and unless you go to the same chemist every time, they do not know your history or which medication you take. This is a slippery road. Exactly the same as the use of Physician Associates.

Thank you Whiff. Your contributions are extremely valuable, much more so than mine

Germanshepherdsmum has always gone out of her way to help people. She is not rude but a valuable asset to Grandsnet .

The OP admitted she was rude to the person asking the questions.

I have used Boots and Independent pharmacies for consultantions and usually taken into a room if I have to show a part of my body. But otherwise just answered their questions at the counter. Even for vaginal itching I don't get embarrassed and there where other people by me.

DiamondLily

Every time I’ve asked my pharmacist for any help, no matter what it’s for, they’ve told me (with my meds list and history), that I need to see a GP.🤷‍♀️

Same thing happened to me recently, but I have no objection to that. I am so many medications, there is always a risk of contra-indications.

The Germanshepherd poster, I have noticed, gives quite snappy replies.
Has she never been rude to somebody and then apologised?

I find that comment quite rude!

Every time I’ve asked my pharmacist for any help, no matter what it’s for, they’ve told me (with my meds list and history), that I need to see a GP.🤷‍♀️

Seeing a pharmacist is like going back in time for me. In the fifties, my mother, who had a hospital/doctor/medical phobia, was a regular at the local chemist. Anything to avoid the doctor.
She eventually died from untreated cancer.

A pharmacist is a fund of knowledge, but a reliance on them could be dangerous.
If the OPs situation happens to me, I will ask to be more private.