Rant Of The Day

[Pblakeney]

Pharmacists. Do they make you wait just to be annoying?
Handed over my Dad’s prescription and watched him turn round and take the box from a drawer.
“It’ll take 10 minutes.” And it has. Still waiting. 🤬🤔

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Pharmacists. Do they make you wait just to be annoying?
Handed over my Dad’s prescription and watched him turn round and take the box from a drawer.
“It’ll take 10 minutes.” And it has. Still waiting. 🤬🤔

They have to get it from the drawer and the pharmacist has to check it against you record in case there is a problem

The pharmacist has to check every single prescription and they are normally the bottleneck

 

[BoldonLad]

They have to get it from the drawer and the pharmacist has to check it against you record in case there is a problem

The pharmacist has to check every single prescription and they are normally the bottleneck

Interesting. The Chemist/Pharmacy attached to our GP Surgery is part of a small(?) group. They used to dispense the Prescriptions onsite, now, I am told, they are sent to "a hub" and dispensed there, the dispensed medication is then returned to the Chemist/Pharmacy and issued to the patient.

 

[Pblakeney]

They have to get it from the drawer and the pharmacist has to check it against you record in case there is a problem

The pharmacist has to check every single prescription and they are normally the bottleneck

Thanks for that clarification!
I'd have thought that the GP would have already done the check but better to be doubly safe.

 

[briantrumpet]

Thanks for that clarification!
I'd have thought that the GP would have already done the check but better to be doubly safe.

A couple of times I've had calls from the pharmacist to check that a change of prescription hasn't had any side effects - they are pretty well trained, and I'm sure there are many safeguards/protocols.

BTW, very tangentially, so are ophthalmic opticians in the UK - they will diagnose several medical conditions beyond eye conditions, and will refer you back to your GP if needs be. Opticians elsewhere (in France, for instance) are largely only trained to prescribe glasses. So if you have an eye problem in France, go to a doctor, not an optician. Or a phamacist, for that matter.

 

[Ian H]

Thanks for that clarification!
I'd have thought that the GP would have already done the check but better to be doubly safe.

In modern times, with internet and typing and stuff, how do doctors produce properly illegible prescriptions for pharmacists to decipher?

 

[briantrumpet]

In modern times, with internet and typing and stuff, how do doctors produce properly illegible prescriptions for pharmacists to decipher?

By typing with a @First Aspect-constructed scone in one hand and trusting predictive text?

 

[Pblakeney]

In modern times, with internet and typing and stuff, how do doctors produce properly illegible prescriptions for pharmacists to decipher?

Well, my Dad's was typed on a PC and printed out so I'm not sure that they are any more.

 

[Poacher]

A couple of times I've had calls from the pharmacist to check that a change of prescription hasn't had any side effects - they are pretty well trained, and I'm sure there are many safeguards/protocols.

BTW, very tangentially, so are ophthalmic opticians in the UK - they will diagnose several medical conditions beyond eye conditions, and will refer you back to your GP if needs be. Opticians elsewhere (in France, for instance) are largely only trained to prescribe glasses. So if you have an eye problem in France, go to a doctor, not an optician. Or a phamacist, for that matter.

True, but French pharmacists are trained to identify fungi. Try taking your basket of wild gathered toadstools into your local pharmacy in England and let us know how you get on.

 

[briantrumpet]

True, but French pharmacists are trained to identify fungi. Try taking your basket of wild gathered toadstools into your local pharmacy in England and let us know how you get on.

I suspected there might be a reason for that...

 

[bobzmyunkle]

Smart phones lead to demise of the human race. What's to be done?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/21/are-smartphones-responsible-for-global-fertility-crisis/

 

[First Aspect]

Smart phones lead to demise of the human race. What's to be done?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/21/are-smartphones-responsible-for-global-fertility-crisis/

I think step 1 is stop reading the Telegraph.

 

[briantrumpet]

I think step 1 is stop reading the Telegraph.

The original report was by Burn-Murdoch in the FT. Stop reading that too (step 2)?

Maybe just stop reading and look at the photos. And listen to podcasts. Yes, that should do it.

 

[First Aspect]

The original report was by Burn-Murdoch in the FT. Stop reading that too (step 2)?

Maybe just stop reading and look at the photos. And listen to podcasts. Yes, that should do it.

Well the FT does specialise in shït graphs, so maybe.

I see smoking rates have dropped off a cliff since 2000. Clearly characters like Don Draper were alluring, and this explains why people not sexily smoking has really put the kybosh on one night stands.

This not to mention hedgehog populations. If you've ever heard them grunting in mating season, you will fully understand the impact that losing this inspiration will have had on human mating behaviour.

 

[BoldonLad]

Smart phones lead to demise of the human race. What's to be done?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/21/are-smartphones-responsible-for-global-fertility-crisis/

Didn’t we have this a few days ago?