Prescription papers

[Jux]

I just picked up my monthly repeat prescription. Due to various longterm problems I have, there are nine items.

The dispensing chemist keeps one copy, the one with all the ticks which tells them what I want for next time (Boots, the do the repeats for me), and give me the rest.

I have 4 copies of my prescription. There are 3 pages of pills. I have 12 pieces of paper.

Why? An utter waste; it's bonkers. Normally I don't keep them - I've been on these meds for years now - and the pharmacist throws them away, but this time for some reason I took them with me.

12 bits of paper which I don't need, which nobody needs. Every single month. Who designed this?

Have no clue but good question. We have 3 pages of prescription too. And it's normally pre-bagged for pick up, and stapled on the bag so usually get 2/3 copies. Admin reasons? But yes, definitely a waste. Go straight into the bin since it's written all over so can't even use it for memo or shopping list.

I've not had a paper prescription in years - my GP sends everything electronically to the local chemist, yet they also pop the umpteen pages into the packet.

Agree its an appalling waste.

Just ask your GP to send to pharmacist direct.

I work for prescription services and all GP practices are supposed to be encouraging all their patients to change to electronic prescriptions (and this isn't a new thing). Speak to your GP about it

for my dc we get each medication ('only' 3) on an extra sheet.
one of the meds is difficult to get in a paediatric formulation and we need to be able to get it where ever it's available.
that would be a nightmare with a single prescription.

ghostlyglow and titch - yes, I've had eletronic prescription for years too. My surgery and Boots liaise without a peep from me, I don't have paper prescriptions as, like you, the repeats are done electronically. When it's ready each month, Boots texts me to come and get it all. I turn up, they have massive bag ready for me, and a lot of copies of the ,'scrip, which they go through and tick the boxes next to each med, hang on to one copy and give me the rest (more often, throw the extras away).

Nevertheless, prescriptions get printed out somewhere down the line, and many many copies are done.

Same here. When we did paper repeat prescription, we used to get the one for us to tick and hand it in to GP. It was different format to these. This one is purely for chemist use, since we used to get both.

Probably down to the pharmacists then. A lot of them are very resistant to change. It has apparently been very difficult to talk them out of still using fax machines rather than electronic messaging/emails etc.

Each prescription has two halves.

Only 4 items can fit on a prescription form (left hand side). For each form a full set of repeats (right hand side) prints out - this can run to multiple pages with the various notes the GP adds - reviews / flu vaccination / how to book an appointment etc. As a pharmacy we have no control over what prints out.

Hope that makes sense.

And we have to print as this is this is the form we use for clinical and accuracy checks. Also has to be signed by the patient to capture exemption / payment.

Sounds like a lot of extra work for something promoted as being easier and more efficient. Typical NHS!

FYI, you should always keep a current copy of your repeat slip with you in your wallet so that if you needed to be treated after an accident then they would have a list of what medications you are on.

So just ask Boots not to print it out for you?

@Palavah We have to print it is the way the system works across all pharmacies (I do not work for Boots) - you could ask for it to be put in the confidential waste.

britnay, that is a great idea, don't know why I never did it. It's actually for my dc, and every time I was asked what meds he's on, I struggle to spell them correctly.

I don't need to carry a load of prescription forms around with me, I have a list of meds in a different format which emergency services know to look out for.There's a thing round my wrist and a thing on my keys.

Palaver, you may have missed that I get a text from Boots saying my prescription is ready, I turn up, it's ready - obviously, this includes all the printed copies. They don't like it any more than I do so if it were not necessary I am sure they would have asked me by now whether I actually want all these copies. They know that I don't as they throw them away for me before I leave the shop. When I picked it up this last time I had a new person who just gave me all the stuff. It really isn't a question of telling them not to print it out.

SteeperthanHell, thanks for explaining that. In fact, there seems to be only one copy of the green bit which is the bit I sign and give back. The rest is just a lot of copies of the same pages, one with 4 meds on, one with 3, and one with 2, and the boxes next to each med where a tick would go if they weren't extra copies of the one which gets ticked and put in the repeat box.

There are no instructions or reminders to have a flu jab or anything on them at all. They are merely copies of the pages one ticks for repeats. That's it. Nothing else has ever appeared on those pages. Ever.

And yes, usually I'm asked if I want them, I say no, and they are chucked - presumably into the confidential waste - by whoever is serving me in Boots at the time.

What I have ascertained from this thread is that they are indeed just a complete waste. Presumably not charged to the NHS, presumably the cost is covered by Boots. Let's hope so.

Nobody pisses money away like the NHS @Jux (and I work for it)

The cost is to the NHS - we don't pay for the tokens.

Like I mentioned earlier - there is no option but to print what is sent to the NHS spine. We don't like the waste either, but each prescription has a max 4 items and comes with the entire right hand side which is often multiple pages. So for 9 items there will be 3 prescription forms, the rest is the right hand side repeat - this could be 1, 2, 3 etc pages long and will be printed automatically - one for each prescription.

Some GPs put lots of notes to the patient on the right hand side some don't - this just means more pages are printed.

SteeperthanHell, What I'm saying though is that there are 4 copies of the 'right hand side repeat' each 3 pages long. So 12 sheets of paper I brought home with me. 4 copies. No notes. Just copies of the pages I have ticked and left with Boots. So actually 5 copies of those pages are printed.

Does this mean that they are printing out 5 copies of the green prescription pages too? Why would they do that?

That doesn’t sound unusual to be honest - there is nothing that pharmacy can do (or the GP to be fair).

We don’t choose what we print - we press download and page after page prints.

You can’t print a right hand side without a left as they are one piece of paper that we spilt when printed - so for every right hand side printed there is a corresponding left - only the first page will have the items for dispensing on - the rest will be blank.

If the prescriptions you have are green they are being printed by the GP (which is quite unusual) and collected by the pharmacy from the surgery - pharmacy prescription tokens are white on both sides - I’m assuming you are in England.

Here's a pic of one of the pages I get. I have 4 of this page and 4 of each of the other 2 pages. They are all of this nature. Just the names of the meds with a box to tick if I want it next month. This is page 3 of 3, and I have the first and 2nd pages obvs too. So each set is 3 pages long and I have 4 sets and Boots has 1 set.

I only have one prescription per month. Each prescription runs to 3 pages.

Is it that each page of the prescription has 3 meds on it but is accompanied by the full set of meds I have; so each 'green' page carries 3 extra pages setting out all the meds I might want repeated? Even though only 3 meds are named on the 'green' page but there are 9 diff meds I need each month?

Actually, I don't think that can be so. I am currently taking a whole load more meds on top of my normal 9, and they don't appear anywhere on this lot.

So, why are 5 sets being printed, and are 5 sets of the actual prescription being printed and what happens to those extra ones? Is this the modern form of drug running?

Think about it this way.

Let's say your GP created a prescription for just 1 item for you (you need a course of antibiotics) and you have 10 meds that are on repeat that you get regularly.

When the prescription is printed the left hand side will have the antibiotics on. You have 2 pages on the right hand side containing all of your repeats. This happens whether it is printed at the GP surgery or pharmacy.

Now imagine you have a prescription with 10 items. For each page with 4 items on, a set of repeats will also be printed.

They will really only be printing one set - but for every 4 items there will be a full set of right hand sides and that is why you have all the copies.

Only regular repeat meds appear on the right hand side - not acute meds and depending on the GP - controlled drugs.

To add to the paper issue - sometimes scripts get split at the GP (if some items need re-authorising or need additional checks) and are not sent in one batch - this adds more paper to the pile.

It would be really easy to explain if I had a full set of newly printed scripts to show you!