In Views

Follow this topic

Bookmark

Record learning outcomes

Independent proprietor Sid Dajani tried to anticipate all sorts of pitfalls during his refit, with mixed success.

What did you do on all the Saturdays and Sundays in July? Watch the golf? Watch the Formula One? Watch the Brazilians get hammered by the Germans? Watch the cycling? Watch the barbecue burn the bangers? Watch your money disappear in the shops? Watch the kids, the pounds, the calories, the weather, the cricket?

I watched the refurb at my pharmacy taking place. I acted as first aider as tradesmen screwed through their thumbs, stopped bleeds when they banged their noses or got paint in their eyes. Yep, these are genuine, bona fide carpenters, painters and decorators.

I also had plumbers and electricians in, urgently plugging away so they could finish and the new floor could go down on time, in mid-August. And I took the opportunity to do the paperwork, clean, be tea boy and tidy up. It was mayhem and chaos competing against each other, especially when we realised that the designer had got various measurements wrong! It didn't help that we stayed open throughout. The experience was emotional, and definitely helped me develop as a person.

Troubleshooting the refurb

During each stage of the process, I tried to cater for every episode where something could go wrong, or had gone wrong in the past. I've even sorted out the toilet because that had been a problem. A few years ago, an 84 year-old man asked if he could use the men's room. His heart monitor pad had come away and slipped down his trousers. On his way to the toilet, he explained that he had moved the monitor from where the hospital had placed it because it was uncomfortable and had lost its stickiness.

I continued my work until I heard cries for help. I couldn't see what was going on and the man couldn't unlock the door. I did my best to knock it down but spectacularly failed to impress the lock. Even loosening the hinges was of no use as they'd been painted over and the screw heads were chewed. All I could do was reassure the man while we waited for the locksmith to come and drill the lock.

When we eventually got in, the man had urinated all over himself, so I had to clean him up and dress him. He was embarrassed and disorientated, but well; at least I found his heart monitor pad. He was really grateful for all I had done for him.

To help us to deliver the day job and take on new roles, we'll need more resources, some financial, and perhaps  a second pharmacist

I am sure that when he returned to the hospital, they found some interesting things to say to him. Alas, I would have liked to have carried out an MUR, but it didn't seem appropriate! What I have done now is ensure the screws in the hinges were as good as new and not painted over.

I also decided to put an extra shelf by the front counter to house another laptop to spread the workload around the dispensing workstations. Sometimes, I thought, I am simply too clever. Perhaps too clever, it seems, because within the hour I had walked straight into it €“ very hard!

Schlimmbesserung, again

My eyes watered and for one moment, as I wiped away the blood, I thought I had broken my nose as well. Thankfully I didn't shout out anything that might have caused even hardened criminals to blush. But it did make me think of that rare, but useful German word €“ schlimmbesserung €“ used to describe an effort to make something better that actually makes things worse. Think most well-meaning ex-PCT, NHS Region pharmacists, etc. And see last month's Bishopstoke column for another occasion where this word came in useful.

So it was with bruised eyes and a big scab on the bridge of my nose that I visited a local school armed with my ex-ear-ring display case that now houses a mixture of sweets and medicines in separate compartments. I ask the children to decide which is which. I normally have an ice-breaker too, usually a brief background to what we do.

I asked the primary school children if they'd ever visited their pharmacy with mummy and daddy, and why. I then asked the most interactive child of all what colour she thought a prescription was. To which she replied: €Oh that's easy, they're blue.€ Oooops! It took a lot of straight face-pulling and several deep breaths to avoid a belly laugh and, more importantly, to remember where I was and how to continue.

Time, please

I had the same problem when a member of staff answered a call and the caller told her he couldn't get through to the butcher's so could she tell him what time they closed? Another patient once asked what time we closed on a particular day. My dispenser replied 6pm on weekdays, to which the patient enquired if they had to come before six? We have since asked the dispenser to allow others the opportunity to answer any calls first, since clearly she is a light that attracts the most unusual of sorts.

I know we are trusted and professional partners in supporting individual, family and community health. Sitting at the heart of our communities, effective community pharmacy services have a significant and increased role to play in ensuring we have a sustainable healthcare system and that the NHS is able to survive and thrive over the coming decades. However, this will require commissioners, providers, patients and the public to be more aware of community pharmacy's role alongside other primary and community care services.

The new health and public health commissioning system needs to invest a greater proportion of resources strategically in community pharmacy as a supplier of public health services. To help us to deliver the day job and take on new roles, we'll need more resources, some financial and perhaps a second pharmacist. Diverting resources away from one important, life- saving activity to another is not the answer as it then weakens the original role, and that would be schlimmbesserung.