When a customer complains about a dispensing error, escalation of the complaint within a pharmacy chain or to the CCG is often not related to the seriousness of the error, but to the way the complaint has been managed by the pharmacy.

If a customer feels that they have not been communicated with effectively or that their complaint has not been taken seriously, they are more likely to take it further. So, what is the correct way to deal with a complaint, from the perspective of the patient and the pharmacy?

An initial response to a customer complaint about a dispensing error should be to:

• Check that the patient is alright €“ assess the potential harm that may result from the error and refer them to their GP if necessary
• Supply the correct medicine for the patient and give appropriate advice about its use
• Apologise without admitting fault €“ apologise that the situation has occurred and promise that you will investigate it and respond.

Details of the complaint should be recorded and the patient's account of what has happened should be written down. The packaging for the medicine should be retained if possible (remember that it has become the property of the customer).

If this is not possible, photographs of the packaging will be useful. The error should be recorded following the pharmacy's own error reporting protocol. The complaint should then be investigated.