To think over ordering prescription medicines is sensible?

[Edenviolet]

I always order more than we need/order more frequently than necessary.

The medication will all be used and it is handy to have extra supplies if needed.
The pharmacist was questioning me today as to why we are going through so many items/medications and seemed to think we should only order what we need when we need it?
I prefer to have a 'stock' of dcs medications etc and think I'm sensible in doing so

AIBU?

YABVU, yes. Ordwe what you need, when you need it.

Well, if you renewed your scripts in time you wouldn't need a stock so, without further info, YABU.

There are times when we go through more of some of the items and because we don't know when this will happen it's easier if we have everything we need already in the cupboard/fridge rather than needing to put in emergency repeat prescriptions

Also, we have occasionally had supply issues in the last with a couple of things which caused a lot of problems and I've found planning ahead and having a stock of things avoids the problems this causes

I don't think it's reasonable, no. If you get your meds a couple of days in advance of them running out that should be sufficient. I think the pharmacy was right to query it and I'm surprised the doctor hasn't monitored the situation more efficiently.

I'm surprised they let you over order.

X post there - in principle I still don't think people should stock pile meds.

I like to make sure I have a weeks stock of my medication as back-up.

I guess it depends what the medication is - I always have a store of spare inhalers for my DC - sometimes they don't use them at all and sometimes they can go through a whole one in a few days. If I only ordered when needed and had a bad weekend I could easily be stuck. I know the ones we order will all be used before use by date so I don't see the harm, as long as the medication will eventually be used not wasted.

The gp has never questioned it, but the pharmacist has and keeps wanting to do a medication review to "see if you still need all the items" as far as I'm concerned that's down to the gp not the pharmacist.

I think the go understands that our medication needs can be variable. Some items we use daily, others we may not need for a few days then if for example dd2 is unwell we may need to start using something else very frequently. If this is over a weekend when the go is closed its difficult to get a prescription hence why I feel it's sensible to have a stock of things

Is this a wind up? Of course it's not ok

I presume you have an NHS prescription meaning that you only pay on charge per item, irrespective of how many numbers of that item are on there?

It puts a huge strain on the NHS to pull this kind of thing. I am very surprised anyone is allowing you to do this on a long-term basis.

I do this too. It's because our local pharmacy often doesn't have in a couple of my meds so if I leave it till I need them there's always a stressful couple of days where I don't know if they'll turn up and I have to eke out and under medicate for a couple of days. So know when they ask me about it (and they do) I point out their shit supply organisation and ask if it's better to put extra stress on someone with bipolar? To which the answer is no. Although have taken the stress out if it now by using a supermarket instead.

I also have spares of all medications that are kept at nursery rather than bringing them home each day, some of which may never be used (I hope, as they have epi-pens!). It's better to have too much than not enough, or to run out on a day when you can't easily get more.

YABU

What if everyone did this? The wheezy old workhorse that is the NHS would collapse.

When my dd was on prescription formula I used to be a prescription ahead if that makes sense? Each prescription was 5 tins so I always had 5 in stock. I spoke to the GP and the pharmacist and both were supportive as there were supply issues occasionally and it saved anxiety. When we weaned her off we managed it without any waste.

Is that the same as 'over' ordering? As long as t is being used is that not ok?

Various medications for all dcs but probably the majority of things I've stocked are for dd2 as she has diabetes, insulin vials, pen fills and needles etc if her pump fails and a lot of bg test strips and ketone test strips as if she is ill we have to monitor her very carefully.

Previously when she was ill and we used up all her blood ketone strips it took us a while to find a chemist with some in stock and they made us buy them (over £20 for ten strips, we got a refund the following week but it was stressful trying to source them when we needed to be concentrating on dd) after that we requested an increase in the prescription for them and order them quite frequently

Doctors keep an eye on how much you're ordering and if it's things like symptomatic treatment you might be called in for a review as there would be a worry that you needed escalation of treatment (ie if you were picking up a salbutamol inhaler a week or would suggest you needed to go up a step on your asthma management)
If it's drugs that could be abused (codeine, diazepam, zopiclone) you risk your prescription being stopped as the doctor would worry you were selling the drugs
With anything else, you over order and sometimes don't use stuff and it expires, you cost the nhs money
So yeah, you're being unreasonable. If you find you're needing more than you get sometimes, speak to the gp and alter your prescription accordingly. Otherwise you risk your gp refusing to prescribe any more as you should have enough

It never goes out of date, we use everything we order

The pharmacist is absolutely entitled to ask you questions about your or your child's' medication as they are more likely to be aware of how often a patient is using their medication compared to most GP's.
It's everyone's responsibility to ensure the NHS is not abused - we are so fortunate to have it.

On the whole i think YABU. but it does depend on what your prescriptions are for. My asthma inhalers i always have spares. when dx as a child my gp made sure i had inhalers in places i went to regularly. this i feel is good practice . I had one by my bed, one downstairs, one in my school bag, one at school, one at my dads house and one in his car. if you just have one you could misplace it or it runs out without you noticing. even now i have several in places i may need them, they can save my life and are a necessity.i don't stockpile other meds as they are either a controlled dose or easily bought without a prescription

On the whole i think YABU. but it does depend on what your prescriptions are for. My asthma inhalers i always have spares. when dx as a child my gp made sure i had inhalers in places i went to regularly. this i feel is good practice . I had one by my bed, one downstairs, one in my school bag, one at school, one at my dads house and one in his car. if you just have one you could misplace it or it runs out without you noticing. even now i have several in places i may need them, they can save my life and are a necessity.i don't stockpile other meds as they are either a controlled dose or easily bought without a prescription

I don't see anything wrong with it as long as the medicine doesn't expire. I'd far rather have a bit of a back up than potentially run out over a bank holiday weekend for example.

I think it very much depends on the type of medications you mean. As a PP says, something like codeine is very different to ketone strips.

On the whole i think YABU. but it does depend on what your prescriptions are for. My asthma inhalers i always have spares. when dx as a child my gp made sure i had inhalers in places i went to regularly. this i feel is good practice . I had one by my bed, one downstairs, one in my school bag, one at school, one at my dads house and one in his car. if you just have one you could misplace it or it runs out without you noticing. even now i have several in places i may need them, they can save my life and are a necessity.i don't stockpile other meds as they are either a controlled dose or easily bought without a prescription

I was guilty of sally's point when I was younger and using salbutamol puffers. Inproper management of asthma leading to relying on relievers rather than using the preventers. Plenty went back to the chemist out of date.

What I did with DD's meds and formula was different though and I ran t passed both GP and chemist. The chemist got into a routine of pre-ordering the formula as he could work out when we would need it. I was like clockwork!