Speaking to an expert
I always say there is no substitute to speaking to speaking to someone at the coal face if you want to get to grips with an issue. I have been following the discussion on sick people consulting their pharmacist rather than their GP. At the moment there is pressure on the NHS as a sick person with a relatively minor ailment can present themselves at A & E knowing they will be treated albeit have to wait.
I fell into that category with a wound possibly inflicted by my cat which is not healing and became infected.
It’s not serious – or at least I hope not – but it’s not healing either so antibiotics were prescribed by my doctor and I went to my pharmacist to collect the medication.
My pharmacist – the former light weight boxing champion of All Ireland – is a chatty cove.
The shop is Dickensian and you can see the top of his head in the back recess of the shop behind some ancient wooden panelling. He surfaced and a discussion ensued with another customer on this very subject.
He said he cannot record notes; has no examination room; neither professional insurance nor funding; and so is reluctant to be involved. Nonetheless, he receives a regular stream of people who are bleeding and burned. It sounds like the old medieval barber. He did say that three pharmacists including himself operated a triage system for the princely sum of £6. I did not realise that funding is no longer controlled by an Area Health Authorities but a group called CSG (care support group) which is a committee of senior GPs. It was they who stopped this triage operation.
Patients already have free access to their GP surgery, NHS on line, and hospitals. Speaking to this pharmacist I am not all convinced that he should be added to the resource.
