FATHER of a seven-year- old girl who relies on anti-rejection drugs for her transplanted kidney was furious when a pharmacy ordered the wrong medication.
Karl Flowers’ daughter Ashleigh underwent an operation in September 2011 to fit a replacement kidney donated from her mother, Susan.
Since then, she has to take three different medicines, including one steroid and two anti-rejection drugs to prevent her body rejecting the kidney, which her parents collect from the pharmacy based in Blaenavon Health Centre.
He said: “We always order her medication in advance of her running out. I ordered it on the Tuesday, expecting to pick it up on the Friday as always, but they told me to return on the Monday.
“Then on the Monday, I was told that the wrong medication was ordered, so I needed to wait another four days.”
This left him with no choice but to travel the 60- mile round trip to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, to get her fresh medication.
He accused the pharmacy staff of having an uncaring attitude.
“They said that I had to understand that they deal with a lot of patients,” he said.
“It’s terrible that they can make such a mess when drugs are so important. In the future I have worries that I won’t be able to get her medication that she relies on.”
A spokeswoman for the pharmacy said that they were unable to give details due to the Data Protection Act.
Ashleigh suffered kidney failure in November 2007, and doctors found a tumour on her kidney. It was removed in a six-hour operation and she had eight weeks of chemotherapy.
She spent three hours attached to a haemodialysis machine three times a week at the Children’s Kidney Centre in Cardiff’s University Hospital ofWales.
Ashleigh then had to be in remission from cancer for three years to be eligible for a transplant just in case it returned.
Her mother was able to provide a kidney for her daughter and the operation went ahead in 2011.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel