A MOTHER claims she was denied Tamiflu for her sick six-year-old son because the pharmacist wanted to go home early.
Susan Pfitzmann, 33, of The Ridgeway, said she was told both by the national pandemic flu helpline and the out of hours GP service that her son should have a course of the anti-swine flu drug.
On Tuesday, July 28 she went to the pharmacy at the ASDA store in Edmonton as her son Marco Sanjurjo had a temperature of 39 degrees and a sore throat.
She said: “Because it was happening so quickly, I was advised to get Tamiflu as soon as possible. But the pharmacist said ‘the computer system is shut down. You will have to come back tomorrow. There is nothing I can do.’”
She added: “I know Tamiflu is not a cure but it is peace of mind. I was absolutely revolted – she just wanted to go home.”
She added “I went back in there, it was still open and spoke to one of the assistant pharmacists who said actually she had just turned the computer off because she wanted to go home early. She could have turned it on.”
There are currently seven Tamiflu collection points in Enfield, and those purchasing the drug must have an authorisation number and identification for both themselves and the patient.
According to Enfield PCT, there are ten pharmacies across Enfield responsible for filling Tamiflu prescriptions, and locations for collecting the prescription will be given out to patients by the National Pademic Flu line when Tamiflu is prescribed.
NHS guidance says that to try and slow the spread of infection and to protect healthcare workers and members of the public, patients should give their Tamiflu authorisation number to a "flu friend" who can then pick up the antivirals from a collection point on their behalf.
A spokeswoman for the PCT said: "While we are responsible for contracting with companies to provide pharmacy services to Enfield residents, we are not actually responsible for how those pharmacies are run. However, we are investigating Mrs Pfitzmann's issue with Asda."
A statement from ASDA said: "Until recently, the Asda Edmonton was one of the few places in the area to have Tamiflu and it successfully distributed it to over a 1,000 people in a short period of time. Thanks to the hard work of the pharmacy team, this was achieved efficiently with little negative feedback from customers which is why we are taking this allegation very seriously. We're sorry the customer has had a disappointing experience and we are liaising with the PCT to get to the bottom of it."
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