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

[HelenaDove]

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.

[Mulberry72]

Our surgery is great, I have a big prescription every month (10+ items and 3 lots of CD's) and our online ordering page has the facility to send a message to the surgery along with the repeat prescription so I can tell them why I need it early eg. holiday etc.

[Mehfruittea]

My surgery sets the repeat for every 4 weeks, so it's really difficult to keep track of when it's due. But I am allowed to order up to 7 days before it's due. I try to do this most months so that I'm ok when I go on holiday or at xmas. I work full time and struggled to get to the chemist before it closed, so I switched to the one opposite the local walk in centre. It's open until 10pm every day and carries a wider range. I've never had a problem since I switched.

[IvorHughJarrs]

How is every 4 weeks more difficult Meh? Ours is like that and I find it easier, just every fourth Wednesday marked on the calendar to pop the order in. If it was monthly it could be 30 or 31 days and might fall at weekends so would be harder in my view.

Our surgery is excellent. You can order online or by phone and things are always ready within 48 hours. I rang for 1 item at 9am this morning and was told they are pushing things through in the build up to Christmas so collect it any time after 2pm. Oh, and the receptionists are all lovely. Can't complain!

[crashdoll]

Ivor it's difficult because if you're on multiple medications, they rarely finish at the same time in the 4 week cycle, so you could be phoning up all the sodding time. Sorry, I am resentful of all the time spent running around sorting out prescriptions. I'm on around 20, some of which are from the hospital pharmacy because they're injections and another of which comes from a special delivery company. Aargh. :( My GP surgery are generally quite good, although they often cock up my repeats which is annoying. It's a new thing. I guess they're under a lot of pressure. I understand their difficulties but I don't always feel that they understand how stressful and time consuming it is to be a patient with multiple, complex chronic health issues.

[HelenaDove]

YY Crashdoll Its the stress of all the running around and keeping on top of it.

[PatricianOfAnkhMorpork]

Ivor how lucky you are to have such a fantastic system. Unfortunately that isn't the experience at most GP surgeries.

I was on medication for a couple of years, would only be prescribed one month at a time, couldn't do repeats online they had to be dropped into the surgery. Which was a massive problem as I don't work in the town I live in but an hour away and the GP doesn't open on a Saturday. Only way I could do it was to miss work to drop it in and collect it again.

I was lucky as I was only on one drug, but that was one of the reasons why I ended up coming off it (thankfully I could even if the GP didn't like it). Its a completely barking system and shouldn't be that difficult.

[KatieB55]

When I put in November script the pharmacist at Boots noticed that a repeat would be needed between Christmas and New Year and said he would put the repeat in for 23rd December - had a text yesterday to say it was ready for collection. Good service from them.

[Mehfruittea]

4 weekly means you end up with 13 cycles a year. I have 7 items in repeat, some are based on my monthly cycle for taking when I get my period etc. One has all the days printed and comes in boxes for 30 days, not 4 weeks. I end up out of sync and used to only be able to collect on a Saturday(until I changed chemist). So if I got my repeat and had to pick up again 4 weeks later, the chemist would request for me 3 days before my pickup. Drs would have 48hrs to turn around so issue script on the Friday. Then chemist would often not have my CD's and order them in. To arrive Monday. But I run out on Saturday, they are very strict indeed when issuing scripts for controlled drugs and no option for wiggle room (for good reasons). It was our local Boots and would close at 5.30 on weekdays. And I work full time so can only collect at the weekend, unless I make up some bullshit excuse to leave early. Every 4 weeks.

I prefer to set a calendar reminder for 15th of every month and order the prescription to collect from 18th onwards. I run out 22nd so have wiggle room, plus my new chemist is open till 10pm so I can collect after work.

With Boots I ended up having to go 3 Saturdays a month to pick up various drugs because we/me/dr couldn't get them in sync without breaching the restrictions on prescribing more than 1 months medication at a time. Ffs.

[Badders123]

My dh has had an issue with his asthma meds and it's taken 2 phone calls to the dr and 2 trips to the pharmacy to sort out
They are also changing all the meds to save money - some of which dh can't take
Makes me furious

[Sirzy]

Ds was changed to a cheaper version of atrovent last year. He is 6 and it specifically said not suitable for under 16s (not a major problem as he is on a lot of meds not licensed for his age) but the fact it clearly said "not suitable for use with a spacer" was an issue! Took a lot of To and fro-ing to get the right one and a promise they would stick to atrovent in future!