WWHAM questions

Who is it for? It may not be the customer who needs the treatment. Remember that antidiarrhoeals, such as loperamide, are not normally recommended for children under 12 years.

What are the symptoms? Ask the customer to describe all of the symptoms so that you can establish whether they need to be referred.

How long have the symptoms been present? This will help you find out if the diarrhoea is acute or chronic and what may have caused it. Also find out if the customer has recently been travelling abroad.

Action already taken? This will help establish if the customer has used a product that wasn't appropriate or hasn't helped.

Medication? It is important to refer customers who are taking other medication to the pharmacist.

When to refer to the pharmacist

• If symptoms persist for more than a few days
• If the sufferer is a baby, young child or an elderly person
• If the person shows signs of dehydration (i.e. lethargy, headache, dry mouth, loose skin and, in babies, a depressed fontanelle, which is the soft gap on the top of the head)
• If diarrhoea is accompanied by a fever and/or the person has recently returned from abroad
• If the stools are bloody, black or contain mucus
• If the sufferer has severe abdominal or rectal pain
• Customers who make repeated requests for kaolin and morphine.