Is it usual for pharmacists to mix their own medicines in Spain?

In 30 years living in Spain I have never known a pharmacist make up a prescription but on several occasions, when I wanted something which was not an ‘on the shelf' medicine, I have had to return the next day, after the prescription had been made up somewhere else

Thanks, John. 
It worries me because when my husband went to collect, the assistant initially gave him a box of tablets.  The pharmacist came across saying no, not the tablets the mixture.   
So he had sent for the tablet form and made the solution himself in his premises.

I also gleaned from a site that when a Pharmacist is sent a batch of tablets they are not allowed to 'split' them and that is why some patients find themselves with too much medication.

I don't know what to think!    Anne.

In U.K. a pharmacist must be present when certain medicines are sold.   That is because they have the necessary training and knowledge which a normal shop assistant would not possess.   

From your post one cannot see what you needed, why you needed it and whether you presented any sort of prescription. 

From just what you have posted would not sound any alarm bells for me.  Are you saying the pharmacist did something wrong?   If so then ask for the complaints form and make the complaint   

On reflection. When I said I had prescriptions ordered and made up elsewhere,  it could have been the ingredients were ordered in and the preparation was made up by the pharmacist. Either way I do not see a problem

Thanks John.
Yes it was a prescription medication.  I was just taken by surprise and wondered if it was normal practice.   It seems a little archaeic in comparison to how UK & USA & France pharmacies operate.  Who knows, maybe being able to be more involved and flexible with drugs might actually be a way forward.   

No I don't think he has done anything wrong, in fact, he might even have been doing me a favour.  I just don't know.   No one else I know has heard of a pharmacist doing this.

Pharmacists call it "compounding", it's quite common.

Maybe it is because I am 79 but in U.K. i grew up with pharmacists preparing medications.  Long before one could buy almost any ‘cure' off the shelf

In U.K. pharmacists are highly educated and trained.   Over the years I have often taken their advice on minor infections instead of visiting a doctor.  I have also experienced a few occasions when pharmacist have called my doctor to question what they have prescribed and it has transpired they were right and the doctor was wrong

In U.K. pharmacists used never to supply prescription medications on manufacturers packaging.   The prescription would call for so many days medication and the pharmacist would provide the appropriate number in their own packaging, with ones name on it and directions how many and when the medicine was to be taken

Times have changed but not necessarily always for the better

Thanks for the input, John.

It's quite common in the UK for practice nurses to spend some time in the pharmacy; my wife tells me stories of the incredible waste that goes on because of their inability to take back and re-use unused medicines - for the only reason that there is no guarantee that the patient stored them in accordance with the manufacturers instructions.  They still take the medicines in, but every item is thrown in the clinical waste and incinerated.

When I worked, next door to one of our sites was a company that used to export unused medicines to the 3rd world; they no longer trade because the pharmaceutical companies complained to the UK Government that they were an obstruction to fair trade.

Thanks, Cynic.   I never take medicines or visit doctors if I can help it!  What a shame about all the waste given the NHS budget problems.  Don't they even take them back if they are still an unopened...no, I can understand why not.

Perhaps the time has come for Uk to let our chemists have active ingredients and 'compound' and mix the right amount themselves.   Would cut down on wastage.

Someone was telling me that quite a few medications available in the UK are not in available in Spain.   Maybe this is how they get round the problem.  As they say  'Necessity is the mother of invention.'    Anne

Hi again,

Oh, they take them all back, but it all (even the unopened stuff) goes straight into the Clinical Waste.

Many medicines, unless they are in packs ready for your personal prescription (which is how the majority of stuff arrives) or is routine generic stuff they use daily in the pharmacy, arrive in the surgery as compounds; the pharmacist and/or his/her assistant will finish the product in the surgery (i.e add liquid to a powder to create a lotion or potion); the main reason for this is that pharmaceuticals will keep for longer in a dry form.

With regards to medicine availability; it comes down to what the system is willing to pay for.  When it's an insurance company, they are generally only going to pay for the cheapest medication that will do the job, unlike the UK where the public purse pays the bill and there is an army of sales reps going around the GP's surgeries trying to persuade the GP to prescribe his/her product.