I can't get my prescription - any advice please, really worried

[cottonwoolbrain]

I'm on a long term repeat prescription for epilepsy. Normally I get it every 28 days with each batch coming in about a week before my previous lot runs out.

The most recent one has not arrived. When I realised it was a couple of days late I contacted the pharmacy and they chased it. I went back to both pharmacy and GP a number of times and also phoned GP to chase and finally this morning the pharmacy had a note from the GPs saying I could not have a prescription until I've had a review.

I have 2 pills left for tonight and tomorrow morning and after that nothing. The soonest the GP can review me is next Thursday evening. If I don't take the pills I risk being hospitalised within 2 - 3 days of stopping. Even if not hospitalised, a seizure will usually leave me exhausted and in pain for a few days. The GPs are adamant I can't have anything until I've seen them and will not give me an earlier appointment. The pharmacy say that normally they'd give me an emergency supply but can't because the GP says no.

I've been on these pills since 2016. I have regular reviews with a consultant who has advised me to stay on them. Even if I come off them it would have to be tapered down over 8-10 week period not just stopped. I last saw him 4 weeks ago so not much has changed.

I honestly don't know what to do now. Actually a bit frightend as I've been warned that the seizures can be really serious if I simply go cold turkey with the pills

I take life sustaining medicine. Without it. I die. Simple as. Legally I’ve been told the drs don’t have to prescribe it. If they put forward a case where it costs them to much money. Apparently they can legally stop it with no repercussions

I had this. When a dr refused to prescribe due to needing a reviewing. I had to eventually ring my consultant who I located at some private hospital. To do an emergency script. So I didn’t die....

It’s hard work staying alive sometimes and it shouldn’t be. However drs are becoming more and more under pressure to give and not give certain things.

sometimes the review is about checking on side effects as much as the drug itself. My drugs are reviewed generally six monthly but it does annoy me when you put a repeat in and they want you to do a review that they just dont fill it and wait for you to notice I have bollocked my GP surgery for this. They need to phone or contact you to let you know as a min to contact GP surgery

Wow, absolutely shocking of your GP, please complain to the practice manager and ask if they think it is an acceptable level of care. If they do, change practice.

Our GP waive the need for a review If there is a recent consultant appointment letter, which seems eminently sensible to me.

Well done that epilepsy nurse. Get your appt with your GP anyway and when you get to the appointment ask them what they're playing at.
They know how serious this could have been for you. Imagine if you were going on holiday and you had no chance of attending an apt that quickly?!
Dicing with your health is not okay.
I would make a formal complaint to the surgery too.

Our GP will only authorise 3 months worth of prescriptions to be collected 28 days apart. We then have to have a telephone consultation to renew them. It seems silly to me as my consultant decides what I need to take. This is why the NHS is in mess. The doctors time could be put to better use.

I have my medication :)

Phew.

Did you actually speak to the gp or was it just the reception staff?

Great news!

It’s still probably worth speaking to the practice manager so that this doesn’t happen again or hopefully to someone else .

Get your appt with your GP anyway and when you get to the appointment ask them what they're playing at.

This. Look the GP square in the eye and ask them if they know what the consequences of you running out are. Wait for the answer - and make sure you get one. Then ask why they are happy to run this risk with their patients? Then ask if they feel they are offering a good - or even acceptable - level of care. Tell them you expect in future to have access to your lifesaving medication at all times, even if it causes them a modicum if inconvenience. And that you will be straight to a complaint if they fail. Any GP worth their salt will apologise, of course, and you may not have to do all of this.

We had similar once with DH’s asthma inhaler. He’s the less assertive half of the operation, so I ended up taking the phone and speaking to the GP. Ended up with a faxed prescription, an apology and no further problems. I don’t think they think it through properly sometimes, and get caught up with the importance of their procedures, over and above actually delivering care.

I'm so glad you're sorted. I agree you need to complain to/about your GP though - leaving you without essential medication is inexcusable. At the very least he could have prescribed you enough to tide you over until his precious review, which I would have thought would be no longer necessary after the appointment with the consultant.

they shouldn't give you nothing though. even when i've totally fucked up by procrastinating they will still give me another batch to tide me over til i see someone.

Glad you got your meds, OP.

For future reference, when you registered with your GP you would have filled in a form in which you chose whether to have your details disclosed to (I think) just your county or the whole of the UK for situations like this.

So in a scenario like yours earlier that I have also been in, I rang 111 & because they could access my records (I had amended to ‘whole of UK’ at the GP surgery) I was able to collect a prescription later the same day because a nurse had electronically accessed my info seen on her screen and sent a repeat one to a pharmacist close by.

A few weeks ago I tried to pick up dp's repeat tramadol prescription but when I went to the pharmacy there was nothing there so I went next door into the drs where I was told that the dr has refused the prescription but because I wasn't the patient wouldn't tell me anymore. He tried ringing and asking why but they just said he had to see the dr.
Eventually he managed to get a prescription but instead of the months worth at 6-8 tablets daily it was only a weeks worth at 1-2 tablets daily. He's tried to reorder on the app but it won't let him so he's going to have to phone again

I think I've worked out why he's having problems as yesterday there was an article in the local paper that our area is the highest prescribing region of tramadol and another pain killer so apparently the region has been dubbed "painkiller capital" and they want to address the dependency of the drugs. So no doubt they'll tell him to cut down and go to pain management and try something else to stop the pain. Easier said than done when you're in agony though!

Had you had any warning that the surgery felt your review was overdue? Normally, even if you weren't on a "critical" drug (one which can't be stopped suddenly), you'd have several requests to book a review, then warnings, before your medication would be stopped. And a critical drug should never be stopped in this way - the surgery should have a policy in place to identify critical drugs and provide a prescription while you're awaiting your review appointment.

It's absolutely reasonable for you to raise your concerns about this with your GP surgery.

I only ever see that I need a review/blood test when I go to order a repeat prescription online. It's a ridiculous system