רוקחות-פרמקולוגיה

German pharmacists urged to provide more privacy

מתוך medicontext.co.il

By Ned Stafford

FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters Health) – German pharmacists are being encouraged by their trade associations to be more discreet when discussing personal or potentially embarrassing issues with their customers.

Trade groups also want pharmacists to take a more active role in treatments prescribed by doctors.

Dr. Jens Schneider, vice president of the Bavarian Chamber of Pharmacists, told Reuters Health that although current regulations already require that pharmacists provide a private area for customers, many pharmacists do not offer such an area.

In Germany, pharmacies are always separate businesses, never within part of a big supermarket or shopping area like in the US or some other countries. And the customer areas of pharmacies are often cramped, allowing sometimes medically detailed conversations between pharmacist and patients to be overhead by customers waiting in line.

Dr. Schneider, who operates a pharmacy in Augsburg, said this often inhibits interaction between pharmacists and patients involved in a delicate conversation.

Private areas also could be used for pharmacists to explain how to use medical equipment, such as showing diabetics how to use blood-drawing devices, he said.

He said that private areas could be a "corner" away from the main counter, where a customer could turn his back to other customers, or a private room.

There are 3500 pharmacies in Bavaria, and the Bavarian Chamber is making a major effort to encourage them to provide private discussion areas, he said, adding that trade groups throughout German also are involved in the project.

In addition to the privacy issue, trade groups are encouraging their members to take a more active role in treatment as "an extension of physicians," especially with their long-term customers, he said. To achieve this, pharmacists need to interact more with customers to learn how they are responding to treatments.

If a pharmacist detects that a prescribed treatment is not working as envisioned, he could telephone the doctor to discuss whether the dosage or drug needs to be changed, Dr. Schneider said.

"We do not change treatments prescribed by doctors," he said. "We try to optimize the treatments."

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