Wtf is going on with pharmacies

[cachecache]

I remember a time when you would go to the doctor, or put a repeat prescription request in, get a green bit of paper, take it to a chemist and get your medication after a short wait.

My previous pharmacy was taking 3+ days to dispense medication so I moved to one that seemed a bit quieter.

This one is now telling me it's going to be at least 24 hours. And it's been sent electronically so unless I want a load of piss arsing about asking for it to be released and queuing up for a receipt to get it elsewhere, I just have to wait.

I have a raging infection that I need antibiotics for I can't understand why it's taking days to get medication. I don't even mind them saying come back in a couple of hours, but several days is surely taking the piss?!

So your old pharmacy too 3 days and this one is taking 24 hrs ... which is quicker?

Or do you mean 4 days ?

You have heard of the nhs crisis, the effect of brexit etc etc ?

I would call the pharmacy and ask to speak to a pharmacist and explain the situation. Antibiotics should be started ASAP. You are at an increased risk of needing to be admitted for IV antibiotics if you continue to deteriorate. Hope you feel better soon

It's certainly not all pharmacies. I know there are issues with supply of some things which could explain the delay but I had a doc appointment the other week and she asked which pharmacy I use. She emailed the prescription across and I walked over and got it 10 minutes later.

Sorry no help to you!

This is what I mean, it used to be such an efficient service and now people are being made to wait days sometimes for essential medication.

Madness! Ours takes 10 mins, half hour on a bad day!

I have tried to call but they seem to have switched the phone off unless it is ringing off the hook.

I feel so unwell and should have started taking these tablets yesterday afternoon, I don't want to go there and stand in a queue to be told it isn't ready, so I'm trying to call to make sure before I leave.

It's just piss poor.

3 days, 1 day, it's too long either way.

24 hours to start medication for a bad infection is too long.

Yes I have heard of all those things, have you heard of the effects of not taking antibiotics when they are needed?

Phone them.

Acute antibiotic prescriptions are not the same as regular ones. They will surely be able to give you this today?

I no longer use the high street pharmacies for my repeats due to huge problems in obtaining the drugs. The online company I use have more buying power and multiple sources for it, so I've not had issues in obtaining it since.

My local chemists are collectively (there's 4 different ones) a disaster, and you still can't get ANY acute prescriptions until after approx 4pm because the GP surgery send them to the centralised system in bulk sometime around 4ish... Or 5ish if they are busy or forget.

Next time I need one, I'm begging for a paper prescription.

Ours is good for repeat prescriptions, but anything else seems to be next day, or two, but when you ask to have the prescription to go somewhere else, they suddenly have the item in stock.

Exactly! I used to get mine from Tesco and do the food shop then collect it on the way out, then they started putting passive aggressive signs up on the counter saying it will be 3 days minimum and not to ask until 3 days have passed.

Have you got an 'emergency' chemist near you OP? A 24 hour opening one. That you can take the scrip to instead?

They seem to be super efficient.

I haven't found any pharmacies near me like this, unless they actually don't have the medication in (then they can order, usually that's within 24-48 hours) - I'm in London so maybe that helps? Usually max a 15-20 minute wait but that's about it, other than sometimes being asked if I can come back a little later in the day if it's during lunchtime at the one near work that gets rammed as it's in central London.

They're really bad around here too now.

lack of medication, lack of staff, and lack of organisation.

there's a new pharmacy just opened up & it has been brilliant, BUT everyone is swapping over, so I can see them ending up in the same situation!

I'm afraid I self diagnose most of the time and buy them. It's quicker.

Ours is 10 working days to get a repeat prescription! What normally happens is I put my repeat slip into the chemist, the doctors surgery collects them from there daily, gets the prescription signed off, then sends it back to the same chemist and they make it up for you to collect. I can appreciate this can maybe take 5 working days but there are big signs up saying don't even ask unless its been 10 working days! Its a nightmare. I put mine in last month, waited the 10 working days, enquired about it, and they had lost it. So I then eeked out the little medication I had for another 10 days until they managed to fill the prescription. To ward against it happening again I put my repeat in early this month, and was told off, repeat presciptions are not to be issued until 2 week before the end of the previous one. Which means that with the Easter weekend (10 working days is more than 2 weeks with the bank holidays) I've run out again! Fortunately its just blood pressure meds, so I shift to taking them every second day for a week until I get my new packets, but still!

Husband was put on a totally new type of meds for his diabetes by the consultant. He's due to go for the blood tests soon to see how he's getting on and he hasn't been able to get the prescription filled at all.

A bit concerned for his life like.

That's terrible Gamer.

**

Hoping you didn’t vote for brexit and now get to complaint about chain disruptions…

This is intriguing.

My experience recently has been as follows:

1. Go to NHS GP. GP fills in prescription on computer while I am in my appointment and asks which pharmacy I want to use. I collect it on my way home 15 minutes later. This is in a Zone 3 suburb of North London, we have 5 pharmacies within 5 mins walk of each other.
2. Private GP in central London - get antibiotics prescription, printed off in surgery by doctor and handed to me, go to large Boots in Liverpool St station, get medication within 10 minutes (and they are apologetic about the wait!)
3. Visiting in-laws in Somerset. Pharmacy in local Boots and Tesco have closed. No high street pharmacy in any small town. In Asda I see a sign saying that it will take 48 hours for all prescriptions and this is “beyond their control”. Luckily I was just buying something OTC. However I did think that they meant the delay was for prescriptions sent through directly by doctors and was with the GPs signing things off, not the dispensing.

I used to work in a pharmacy decades ago in the small town where I grew up. Even in those days (late eighties) we had an online order system and 2 deliveries a day, so if something was out of stock in the morning we’d order it and the Unichem van would deliver it that afternoon. The system worked well to predict stock requirements though, so we usually had what was needed.

This is the second thread I have seen recently about insane delays getting medication, even for acute conditions. What on earth is going on? Any pharmacists out there who can shed any light?

@cachecache
A number of pharmacies have closed in the last 5 years because the government cut their funding to reduce numbers.
Pharmacies are struggling because the wholesale cost of many drugs has risen dramatically vs what the government pays them and they are making a loss.
There's a shortage of community pharmacies to fill all the vacancies. Pharmacists have been facing abuse and threats for patients too.

my pharmacy takes anywhere between 1-3 days to sort my prescriptions and frequently have low stock levels.

Pharmacies are struggling because the wholesale cost of many drugs has risen dramatically vs what the government pays them and they are making a loss.

But they are still dispensing the drugs eventually? I can see how this might be an explanation if they said “we simply can’t afford to stock x”. But how does dispensing more slowly address this cost issue?

The delay is usually at the doctor's end, takes ours 24 - 48 hrs to send the prescription to the pharmacy electronically.

Local independent pharmacy I use.

Repeat prescriptions take 3-5 days for GP to sign off before they get sent to pharmacy. Then I go to pharmacy and tell them I actually want the drugs (as people were not picking up /leaving for weeks)Then I either wait whilst they make it up or come back the next day or so.

If he's not got something he can usually get the next day or he'll suggest alternativesIf its an acute thing like antibiotics- the GP sends straight to pharmacy and I can pick it up immediately.

It's a very popular chemist and the queue is sometimes out the door (just before Christmas was madness). But the chemist and his team know the regulars and are incredibly helpful and a genuine community resource.

Staffing issues? I have also had to wait a few days for HRT and antidepressants at my pharmacy in recent months.

Of course it's unacceptable, but not sure what we can do if there aren't enough staff in the first place...