Update & response from Boots I've just received

[Garnacha]

Hello Deborah

I tried ringing earlier this week but for some reason the call would not go through. Hope all is well, and the blood test went okay. I was just emailing you to say that we have finished investigating the incident in store. The members of staff who were involved in the incident have all gone through retraining and observations of accuracy checking prescriptions. We have also implemented and extra step of control against the two medications that were involved in your incident. We have attached laminates in front of the two medications and briefed staff about when selecting the two medications to make sure we speak it out load and check versus script. This is something we used to do for other types of drugs in store with positive results, so we have adjusted this for sulfasalazine and sulfadiazine. We have included this in our monthly briefings. If there is anything else, we can do for yourself please let me know.

Kind Regards

Sannaka Jeganathan

Store Manager

let's hope they don't make any more mistakes dispensing medicine, I for one will never use Boots for medication

[Gnarli]

Well, it sounded a very defensive and rather grudging reply to me considering the possible results from their major muck up. I suppose you did at least get a response but, like you, I'd never use them for medications again.

[Fruitandnutcase]

Just read this out to my husband - as he says ‘they didn’t say they were sorry’.

Not only that I’ve just looked up sulphadiazine - it’s an antibiotic! What if someone was supposed to be getting antibiotics and ended up with sulphasalazine? It really isn’t good enough is it.

[Garnacha in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Exactly, no apology, & I'm not convinced what they say they've done will stop it happening again, on the incident form they'd put patient exceeded the daily maximum dose! I've still got scabs where I was itching so much in the sun.

I've got more blood tests Monday & going to get a copy of my last results taken just after my holiday, I'm guessing there's nothing to worry about or I would have been contacted but curious to see what they show x

[Gnarli in reply to Garnacha]

Your other half's right. No apology. It's probably a legality in that there's no admission of incompetence so you can't sue them. Me, cynical?

[Fruitandnutcase]

It really is terrible isn’t it. They are just covering up, considering you didn’t actually have a daily dose of that drug! Thank goodness you are more or less ok although your skin must have felt bad. You’ve been lucky - although when you think of it they’ve been very lucky!

Be interesting to see what your bloods show.

[ruth_p]

It’s very easy to say sorry and not mean it (think Boris), I think this response is actually better than them just apologising. They’ve said what they’ve done to stop it from happening again and have been proactive in their response in store to make sure it doesn’t happen again to someone else. It’s very easy to read rudeness or dismissal in a written response rather than talking over the phone. Re-read it but add in some emoji’s:

“I tried ringing earlier this week but for some reason the call would not go through. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Hope all is well, and the blood test went okay 🙂”

I can understand why you’re upset, especially as you had such a reaction, but I can also see how it would have happened. The two drugs are so close in name and at the end of the day the staff members are human and we all make mistakes. Maybe don’t judge them so harshly and give them a second chance 🤔😊

[Garnacha in reply to ruth_p]

I didn't read that it was rude but, as easy as it is to say sorry its just as easy to say that in just under 2 weeks they've put corrective measures in place, on the day they gave me the wrong medication they said they'd had 2 relief members of staff in from another store, has this other store put in the same measures along with all Boots stores 🤔

From this group I was sent NICE guidelines that had been issued to all pharmacies specifically warning to not get these 2 medications mixed up as there'd been a serious incident.

I think at the end of his email he could have said how sorry they were for the mixup & the worry it caused me aswell as the added pain I had & still suffering from by not receiving the correct medication, missing 2 weeks of sulfasalazine meant I've had to start again with 1 tablet a day for a week, then 2 a day for a week building up to 4 which is where I was at when I went on holiday with the wrong medication issued by qualified, trained pharmacists.

Whilst I understand we are all only human & mistakes can be made, when there are 4 different people checking prescriptions (as I was told by the head pharmacist) I think they've got some serious issues, I hope the measures they've put in place stop anyone else from being given the wrong medication & avoid a much more serious outcome. X

[Gottarelax in reply to ruth_p]

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, and haven't we all made mistakes but there appears a lack of real concern. The 'hope all is well' sounds like what I write in most emails to clients as a polite opener. In this instance it would be something like, "I sincerely hope that you are feeling better and that the blood test shows no damage has been done. My profound apologies for the inevitable upset that the mistake has caused you" before going into what they are doing to stop it happening again. That's just pulling on your big girl pants, taking responsibility and showing due concern for the injured individual.

[Sallysuk in reply to Gottarelax]

Brilliant response. I was going to write something similar but you have said it all.

[Nuttyshirlz]

Hi I was also given some antibiotics last oct and I ended up in hospital and when I had them flush out my body being on a drip. Dr told me I shouldn’t have been given them with being on methotrexate. Mine was giving from my dentist he checked online before giving them to me and yes you guessed it Boots also said I was fine to take them. Dr at hospital said to leave it in her hands. I was given Amoxicillin so if anyone on methx is offered it refuse. The lady that give me it was a stand in as regular lady was on holiday and she is stop on she as stopped many a medication dr have issued me. I still use boots but I always ask them to double check. Can’t tar one person for the rest of them.

[madme1 in reply to Nuttyshirlz]

I can have amoxicillin as long as I stop the metho in time. Leave a gap of at least 10 days, and another gap after finishing anoxic of at least 10 days before starting metho again, but sometimes it's not possible.

[Nuttyshirlz in reply to madme1]

Well dr in hospital told me under no circumstances should you be given it when you on methotrexate. I came out in hives and blacking out constantly and blood pressure was going crazy high then crazy low and I was blue light to hospital. Spent 4 days in hospital and seeing 4 different drs all said same thing to me.

[madme1 in reply to Nuttyshirlz]

It's so frustrating when we are all being told different things!

[Nuttyshirlz in reply to madme1]

Yes it is but what I went through I wouldn’t wish on anyone first time I’ve taken medication and it’s done that too me I also broke my ribs and knackered my shoulder so that was put in a sling.

[madme1]

Hi Garnacha don't exactly know what happened, but hope it gets resolved. I had real problems with Boots when they where doing my prescription some years ago. They kept sending my prescription to another branch in another area for someone else and I had to keep travelling there and fighting to get it back. I cancelled my prescriptions with them in the end and there was never any apology, even though it was their mistake.

[Garnacha in reply to madme1]

Thank you, basically Boots gave me sulfadiazine instead of sulfasalazine which I took on holiday for 2 weeks 🙄 by my 2nd week on holiday the pain etc was getting worse which set alarm bells ringing, I posted on here to ask if they were the same & just a different brand (I'm new to sulfasalazine) & the lovely people here told me they're an antibiotic!

Spoke to consultant who told me not to take anymore of them, (I'd taken 42 over 10 days) & if I felt at all ill to find a local dr.

When I got home, the 4 bottles Boots had given me were all labelled sulfadiazine but 2 bottles had sulfasalazine & 2 bottles sulfadiazine, a total co##up 🙄 x