Pharmacy charade!

There are only certain things pharmacies can give out antibiotics for and I m not sure if eyes are part of it

Not all pharmacists can prescribe, but if it's a Pharmacy First pharmacy and the pharmacist is suitably qualified they can prescribe treatment for eye infections.

Well done on going to five Sago!

BlueBelle

There are only certain things pharmacies can give out antibiotics for and I m not sure if eyes are part of it

What I was sold was an OTC medicine.
Not a prescription only.

BlueBelle

There are only certain things pharmacies can give out antibiotics for and I m not sure if eyes are part of it

Yes, they can sell antibiotics for eyes but perhaps the other pharmacies did not have a fully qualified pharmacist on duty.

Our pharmacist is great, in fact more reliable than our GP. Has been very helpful with my DHs meds which due to him being in and out of hospital tend to change each time. The GPs got it all mixed up but my pharmacist rang the surgery whilst I was in the pharmacy to sort it out.

Allira

BlueBelle

There are only certain things pharmacies can give out antibiotics for and I m not sure if eyes are part of it

Yes, they can sell antibiotics for eyes but perhaps the other pharmacies did not have a fully qualified pharmacist on duty.

I every case the assistant referred to a pharmacist who didn’t come out but confirmed that goods could not be sold.

The pharmacist in my local independent pharmacy has been very helpful in the past. The pharmacist in Boots was not so helpful for me, I found her disinterested and a bit uncaring
Did you actually ask to see the pharmacist at 1,2,3,4 or was that just over the counter assistants ?

Pharmacies are not allowed to treat eyes. They should have told you that.
I know this because a friend had a trapped eyelash and drove (!) all the way to the hospital where a nurse swilled it out with Optrex and an eye bath.

Pharmacy are allowed to sell drops/golden eye ointment!

Boots won’t sell eye drops to people over 65 well they wouldn’t me using my age as the reason the same happens with cystitis first response tables

You can buy Chalazion treatment cream on Amazon to treat styes and other eye problems.

BlueBelle

Boots won’t sell eye drops to people over 65 well they wouldn’t me using my age as the reason the same happens with cystitis first response tables

Ah! Perhaps that explains it.

I had a lump on my eyelid the other year. The practice nurse told me to see a pharmacist who then ( and she hardly even looked at it and seemed quite disinterested) told me to see a doctor. To be honest, since the pandemic I don’t even try to see a doctor about things that I would have wanted checked out. And don’t get me started about trying to get prescriptions from my surgery. I’m supposed to be on iron tablets for months but they haven’t been out on repeat so I have to ask for them each month and then they won’t be ready for collection. And my partner is on blood thinners for life but his prescription is never ready no matter how much time he gives them. All the patients are in despair. I just don’t know what’s gone wrong over the past few years ( apologies…just needed to let off steam!)

Sago

Allira

BlueBelle

There are only certain things pharmacies can give out antibiotics for and I m not sure if eyes are part of it

Yes, they can sell antibiotics for eyes but perhaps the other pharmacies did not have a fully qualified pharmacist on duty.

I every case the assistant referred to a pharmacist who didn’t come out but confirmed that goods could not be sold.

Good helpful pharmacies are a lottery sadly.

Yes Pharmacies dont prescribe for a uti if you are over the age of 65. Not something you want to hear when you are in agony and it is the weekend. As for Boots, unless it’s changed you couldn’t even buy something for a pain in your back if you were taking blood pressure medication.

What is this nonsense about over 65? I think I'm old enough to know if I have Thrush or not. Strange coincidence but I had gone into Boots today to ask for eye drops for my husband. They wouldn't sell me them, instead he's to wash his eye with cooled boiled water with salt in. Yet, when we phone the health centre, the recorded message lists a whole load of complaints you've to attend the pharmacy for! What's the point if they are not going to help you due to ageist nonsense.

Exactly I think it was a case of you being over 65 more than incompetence They have these rules which we think are stupid but I suppose if they went against them and sonething went wrong that’s them up the swanny Be better if they explained it though
However when I went to buy some water infection tablets when I knew it was starting and I knew would help to stop it before it got started I was refused because I was over 65 and felt angry miserable and up the creek without a paddle as they had always been my ‘go to’ before and if I got them at the start I knew it would stop it starting

In one pharmacy I pleaded, explaining that the little tube of Golden Eye ointment would prevent further damage to my eye and negate the need for a GP appointment.

No NHS advice is to bathe with cooled boiled salt water for up to 2 weeks.

Other advice online states that eye infection should be treated quickly to prevent potential spread and damage to sight.

No wonder you cannot get a doctors appointment when basic medicines that are actually there for sale cannot be purchased.

I worked in a pharmacy, we to have laws to abide by. We do take exams to sell and dispense medication. There is always a reason why, often because the symptoms described can be other more serious things. For example I refused to sell another bottle of eye drops for conjunctivitis to a lady who wasn't happy at all but off she went to the doctors to find she had Iritas and needed prompt treatment before sight loss. She had the guts to come back and apologise and say thank you.

You can easily get antibiotics online. You will have to pay postage but it will save the trouble of trekking around. Just say its for cystitis. in the online questionnaire. A broad spectrum antibiotic will cure a range of things.

When my husband went to buy the stuff for my eyes from the pharmacy which the Dr had recommended, the pharmacy wouldn't sell it to him because I was over 60 despite him telling them I had spoken to the GP. He had to go to another pharmacy and lie about my age!

If you buy them online they dont know what age you are!

I have had antibiotic cream and drops from chemist for eye infections but they couldn’t give mill tablets

Now I keep a bottle of optrex eyedrops with chloramphenicol in the cupboard in case anyone in the family has an eye infection.