There is not one positive.

I think it is time to take a break from blogging about Chicago for a moment and change the topic to something that has bugged me for a while.  It is a mindless bureaucratic policy designed to protect hospitals from litigation, but guess what.  In my opinion it does nothing but decrease the well being and safety of patients.

Let me elaborate.  I get all my medications (or as much as possible) from one pharmacist.  She does a great job, always informs me of my options, instructions for the drug and any other information I need to know.  When I get home my wife and I sort them out into days, morning and evening so I don't have to worry about doing it every day.  I have put a picture of my pill box below.

But when ever I go into hospital they will not allow me to take my medication from my pill box.  They will not even allow me to use a pharmacist prepared Webster pack.  All pills must be in their original container and administered by the ward nurse.

And this is where it all falls down.  I have a very complicated medication regime.  Four different specialists prescribe me my medications, so in order to make it easy I simply get them to write to my GP and he prescribes all my medications in one go.  I then take all his scripts to one pharmacist and she dispenses the lot for me.

Now, aside from myself, my GP and my pharmacist (both highly qualified and experienced medical professionals) know the most about my regime of medications.  But for the hospital, that is not good enough.  Instead, my pills have to be administered by a ward nurse who knows nothing about me, my medications and why I take them.

Please don't get me wrong, I think nurses are great and do an awesome job.  But 9 out of 10 times they get my meds wrong, and I have to wait until they leave the room to sort them out.  Now I get why patients aren't allowed to administer their own pills in hospital, but why not a pharmacist prepared Webster pack?  Pharmacists know the drugs better than any nurse does, after all, it is what they do!

But alas, due to stupid hospital bureaucracy, us patients to worry about getting a potential wrong dose from the nurses.  And it is not fair on the nurses too.  They are not qualified in this area, pharmacists are.  And to think how much time nurses must waste trying to figure out patients medications.

So, I've established that it is dangerous to the patient, it is a waste of time for the nurses and adds to administrative handling (which the bureaucrats love because it justifies their job, valid or not).  And I have a simple solution too.  Webster packs provided by qualified pharmacists at the patients choice or the hospital pharmacist.  The pharmacist makes their money selling the drugs so there is no added financial cost.  The pill packs are far more likely to be prepared correctly, increasing patient safety, the nurses will have more time to do what they do best (care for patients) and there will be less paperwork and administration (sorry bureaucrats).

In short everybody wins (accept the bureaucrats).  This is just one example where policy is ridiculous and just adds weight to the turning speed of the cogs which are our medical system.  There are many examples of needless policy in the medical system.  Something needs to be done.  Until next time, stay well:)

My number one rule!

If there is one lesson that I try to impart upon all my readers it is to take control of your own health care.  A doctor can give you information during a consultation.  A nurse can treat you while you are in hospital. But there is only one person who is with you all day everyday.  There is only one person who knows how you feel all the time.  There is only one person who knows exactly where you have been and what you have done.  That's you.


Doctors are a great source of information, but every piece of advice, or instruction they give you, you should query and research.  98% of the time you will probably agree with your doctor, but there is the two percent of the time that you may not agree with him (or her).  This does not mean your doctor is wrong, it may just mean they have chosen the wrong option for you.


Even if you do take the doctors advice, you should still know what you are trying to achieve from the treatment, mechanism of action, side effects, restrictions etc...  After all, if you have a reaction to a treatment, your doctor is not going to be there to monitor you.  It will be up to you, so you should know what is going on.


And this advice is not just for people with a chronic illness.  This is for everyone.  Did you know what the number one cause of liver failure is?  You probably think it's alcohol.  You would be wrong.  It is paracetamol, aka acetaminophen most commonly known as their brand names Panadol and Tylenol.  Check out the following link about OTC medications.


Pain Killers More Dangerous than you Think


Please don't get me wrong, I think paracetamol is a fantastic drug, but shouldn't you know exactly what you are taking and what the side effects are so you can keep an eye out for them. The same goes for any drug.  Until next time, stay well:)