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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder why the NHS advert says to get your prescriptions in time for Christmas when...........

60 replies

HelenaDove · 18/12/2016 23:33

a lot of GP surgeries wont issue them earlier. Last year i remember picking DHs one up on Christmas Eve. Previous years the 23rd. It doesnt really allow for the fact that the pharmacy might not have the particular item needed in stock. So to keep seeing this advert/public information film telling the PATIENT to make sure to get it on time is bloody annoying.

It would ease the pressure on A and E over Christmas too.

OP posts:
Idontbelievethelies · 19/12/2016 00:26

Sick notes can be back dated. They might not want to issue it in advance cos it's assuming you're still going to be sick , unless it's a long term condition , in which case they prob will be happy to, you could just ring and ask for another one?

Original poster
HelenaDove · 19/12/2016 00:44

lies.........the public information film makes it sound like its the patients fault all the time though and it isnt. Thats why i have an issue with it I realise there are ppl who do forget though.

Patients have had to traipse back and forth between pharmacy and surgery 3 to 4 times in one day because of cock ups at ours. ILL and infirm ppl cannot do this.

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FretYeNotAllIsShiny · 19/12/2016 00:45

It's a hip/back problem that's been flaring up for months. I was off for several months, went back to work, it flared again. Rinse and repeat. sigh , I'll have a word with the receptionist tomorrow when I'm down there for blood tests.I didn't know they could be backdated, cheers.

lalalalyra · 19/12/2016 02:05

My relative is having this issue at the moment. No amount of "I have terminal cancer and my husband is taking me away for Christmas and new year" can get through the "your script and sick line are covered until the 29th, you need to call on the 28th" mantra.

We've resorted to her specialist nurse from the cancer hospital and her MP contacting them to try and speak to someone other than the receptionist (who is normally fab but just has a mantra on this and doesn't actually seem to be hearing the words).

Original poster
HelenaDove · 19/12/2016 02:22

Incredibly frustrating lala

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brasty · 19/12/2016 02:47

I am shocked at some of these comments. We have no problems at all.

ZebraOwl · 19/12/2016 03:11

My GP surgery are fantastic in pretty much every way, but a can't have my prescriptions sent directly to a pharmacy because they've only got them right a handful of times in the 10 years I've been at the practice. In fairness, there are about 25 items on repeat (I don't get all of them every month & I am not going to extract myself from my snuggly bed to count them...) plus I can request a couple more that are on acute as I don't need them as often & the GPs like to notice when I have them (e.g. replacing my keep-at-home antibiotics). They do also apologise & try to rectify mistakes asap - somebody took my oxycodone off the system following a letter from the pain clinic about the plan for me to start opiate rotation. Rather jumping the gun, and my note with my request explaining this only got me immediate release, not modified. Receptionist fixed this & the other issues & my lovely GP signed the prescriptions then & there (delaying going home to do so: told you she was lovely, didn't I?), though there have been times I've had to leave it with them & go back the next day...

Several of my medications are hard to get (but the chemist I use work really hard to sort things out for me) so prescription delays & errors can leave me without medication through no fault of my own. And the very tight rules around opiate prescribing mean it's almost impossible to get prescriptions early.

My guess, however, is that the ad (I must admit to not having seen it) is aimed at the sort of people a PP mentioned - not ones who diligently keep on top of things but fall foul of prescribing regs, but ones who come in wanting emergency prescriptions on the 23rd. Including the people who wait until they're off work to do it; and the ones who decide they ought to - for example - ask for "a new blue inhaler" for their child, even though the one they carry is both still in date and never needs using & they have a spare one at home. (Yes asthma kills people. It keeps trying to kill me. V rude of it. But if you run out an inhaler in a day you need to go to A&E...) Nothing says Christmas like the stockpiling of medication you don't really need...

Original poster
HelenaDove · 19/12/2016 15:41

motherof Thankyou for the suggestion of the CCG I have looked up their local number.

Another patient has complained on twitter about a 40 min wait she had to check in at reception then they accused her of missing her appointment even though she was early.

I tried to have a word with them about this issue last week but they just wernt hearing me. Elderly infirm ppl cant wait and stand for long periods. I was reassured that the wait to see someone shouldnt be long. It wasnt the wait to see the GP or nurse that i was on about though. It was the wait to check in at reception This was before i saw this tweet from another patient.

I was told by the private provider that they could only have two receptionists on. They tried to say it was due to lack of room. Well the space behind reception hasnt suddenly shrunk in the last few months. The surgery has been in this building since the early 80s and there used to be 3 to 4 ppl behind the desk.

OP posts:
PigletWasPoohsFriend · 19/12/2016 15:45

They would still need the script And our surgery was taking up to 3 weeks to issue repeat ones.

Shock

Our is no more than 48hrs and a very busy practice.

RufusTheSpartacusReindeer · 19/12/2016 15:48

Went on holiday for three weeks and had to request extra which they were ok with ...just

By getting my perscription a few days earlier each time i have managed to get two months ahead

But fully appreciate that this isnt possible if the surgery is being particularly obnoxious...my friend gets hers weekly, its impossible for her to get ahead

I ran out once , receptionist told me that i needed a review and made an appointment but wouldnt allow me to get a perscription for the two weeks i had to wait (its now up to 8 weeks for an apt)

When i got to the apt dr told me off for not taking my medicine for 2 weeks. When i explained he said "yes, the receptionists can be a bit over zealous"

RufusTheSpartacusReindeer · 19/12/2016 15:48

Our repeat service is now up to 7 days Sad

Tobebythesea · 19/12/2016 15:53

Out of curiosity, how long do your repeat prescriptions take? My GP surgery/pharmacy is 7 days which I find ridiculous.

Original poster
HelenaDove · 19/12/2016 15:54

Its ridiculous isnt it Rufus. Ours is up to 7 days now or so they say. Im going to try and pick DHs up this week so we shall see.

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Musicaltheatremum · 19/12/2016 16:07

I think this is all symptomatic of the crisis that is hitting general practice. England especially has areas that are really struggling. I do add that some practices are stupid and have daft rules. Also in England a lot of practices are only allowed to give a month at a times scripts whereas we give 2 months in scotland.
There are some people however who clearly don't need their medications until mid January or beyond and are ordering really early.
I think things will just continue to get worse.
We are struggling to recruit a new GP as quite simply no one wants to do it anymore.
I signed over 200 repeat scripts today and then issued and signed another 40 or so (well between 2 of us) those 40 scripts took 2 of us over an hour to do.
I do think though that we sometimes cut off our noses to spite our faces. I did a coup,e of scripts today. Clearly people need reviewed but they won't come to any harm waiting another few weeks so I just issue the script and get the staff to get them to make an appointment in the new year.
Rant over. I do see both sides.

Sirzy · 19/12/2016 16:10

I can't have ds meds sent round to the chemist. The GP often makes mistakes and two of his drugs the local pharmacy doesn't stock and won't order in (cost I am guessing!?) so I have to take them to another pharmacy the other side of town. They generally need to order in some of the drugs - and won't without the prescription.

This is why I have got into a position where I can order with 2 weeks worth left

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 19/12/2016 16:17

Out of curiosity, how long do your repeat prescriptions take? My GP surgery/pharmacy is 7 days which I find ridiculous.

48hrs. Very very busy practice.

Sunnymeg · 19/12/2016 17:16

Sirzy, I too have had multiple problems with our GP and pharmacy and now try to obtain a prescription at least a week in advance of when it is needed I order to ensure that I have medication when it is needed. Has anyone had a problem when you they were put on one medication by a consultant at the hospital and then the GP surgery has changed that medication for something else? This has happened to my husband a couple of times in the last year with his heart medication. The last time they changed it, there were contraindications for people who have had strokes (which my husband has had). The consultant was furious when DH contacted him. I realise that the NHS needs to save money, but it needs to consider what it is actually doing.

Sirzy · 19/12/2016 17:29

Yes meg, a few times. The "best" was when when the GP tried to change ds inhaler - from a very high dose of one to the lowest dose possible of another (which is the first choice inhaler generally which hadn't touched ds) thankfully the consultant is great and phoned the GP and sorted it!

CrohnicallyPregnant · 19/12/2016 17:53

Thanks for reminding me! Just checked and I can order 2 of my meds now, so they'll be ready in time for Christmas (48 hour turn around at surgery, plus a day at pharmacy as they often have to order mine in, so I should be able to pick it up Friday afternoon).

The other 2 I can't order till Christmas Eve. So it won't be processed over the weekend. Then Mon and Tues are bank holidays, surgery closed, so 48 hours takes us to Friday morning. So I will have to hope that the pharmacy have it in stock or they get the order in in time to get it Friday afternoon and I can pick it up tea time.

Thankfully one med I have prescribed in 2 strengths, so I can substitute for a short time if need be. And the other I have lowered the dosage of recently so happen to have a few 'spare' tablets handy.

ZebraOwl · 19/12/2016 22:52

Sirzy
My dreadful uni GP practice decided to trash my treatment plan from the hospital on the grounds it was "very unusual".

Then they wondered why I kept ending up in A&E. Honestly could have cried when idiot!GP asked me "have you always been this brittle?" followed up by "what do YOU think is causing you to keep going to A&E? are you particularly stressed at the moment?" They basically refused to believe that a consultant had devised my plan & refused to give me a supply of steroids to start as soon as I began getting ill (I deteriorate FAST) because I could just make an appointment to get some. (No, they weren't open at the weekends...)

Luckily I could get the consultant who created the plan to write to them & the change in attitude couldn't have been more marked. It was good in terms of getting the necessary treatment, but pretty sickening behaviour in general terms.

That practice was (& probably still is) dangerously bad in their approach to students. Basically, they took the approach that the only thing that could be wrong with us was stress. We all had to rely on registering as temporary patients at our home surgeries during the vacs to try to get things sorted, or go to A&E. They'd be leaving people with really severe anaemia/B12/vitamin D deficiencies etc; one friend would have died if she hadn't been persuaded they were wrong & she clearly wasn't just stressed (massive emergency surgery necessary) & indeed then blind (that time around she didn't entertain their brush-off, thankfully!); & when I went in (barely able to speak) with stone-filled almost-touching tonsils & a temperature of nearly 40 I was subjected to a lecture about it being the end of term & everyone being tired & run-down & getting coughs & colds & sore throats. I did then get asked, hugely patronisingly, why I "thought" I had tonsillitis, so I described the state of my tonsils & got a grudging "I suppose I should take a look then". I had barely opened my mouth when the eejit shoved himself away backwards in his wheelie chair & started writing up the prescription for antibiotics. Surely you examine the patient first & then if it's not tonsillitis ask them why they thought it was & do the chat about EOT etc? Ugh.

Original poster
HelenaDove · 19/12/2016 23:32

The amount of stress ill ppl are put through is counter productive and surely must cost the NHS more in the long run as well as costing patients themselves the taxi fares back from A and E.

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goose1964 · 19/12/2016 23:55

I get mine as and when I need it,

Want2bSupermum · 19/12/2016 23:57

helena I totally agree. We don't allow my dad to deal with everything because it is too stressful for him. It's the first time in his life that he has used the NHS and he has said it will be the last of he continues because he will be dead.

Original poster
HelenaDove · 20/12/2016 13:27

Yes You have to be well to cope with the stress Xmas Hmm

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Original poster
HelenaDove · 21/12/2016 16:56

Picked it up for DH and filled it yesterday. Something strange though. It was put in last week and the items were ticked on the repeat by DH but when i got to the surgery they said it hadnt been signed yet.

But then she went round the corner and disappeared for a while Asked me what items DH wanted. There were 9 so i couldnt list them. Then i had to tick all the items on the repeat again. Which looked to me like it had hurriedly been printed out because the little squares that you have to put the tick in were half off the paper.

Im glad DH has what he needs and i dont want to sound ungrateful. But the faff did increase the wait at the front desk. And there are some who will not be able to stand for that long.

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