Pharmacy sitting on unfulfilled prescription

[GinghamStyle]

So DS has ADHD and is on medication for it. He is currently taking a dose of 40mg made up of two tablets of 30mg and 10mg. We were on holiday during half term last week and when I got back, I onky had a few of the correct dose left but a number of 10mg tablets. I visited the pharmacy on Friday to see if there was a prescription waiting for him and they checked - nothing and nothing due until the middle of the month. So I assumed that because they are on a regular repeat prescription that they were correct and that in the confusion of aortingbwverything out for the holiday that I had misplaced some tablets. The days go on and I've checked most "safe places" - still no tablets. I visited the pharmacy again this Tuesday about an unrelated error with their texting service and again they checked and there was no prescription for him and again confirmed it isn't due until later in the month. Now I'm convinced I must have some hidden/lost in the house and this morning I checked absolutely everywhere - still no tablets.

On my lunch break, I called into the surgery to admit my having lost these controlled drugs and to request that a new prescription is made when the lady at the prescrition counter informs me that a prescription was sent down to the pharmacy on 31 May. She then rings the pharmacy who confirm that they have it and it should be ready to collect later today.

I called in after work (3pm) to be told that they don't have them in stock (DS is the only person who has these drugs from them) and they are having a problem with their supply. They only currently have "a few" 10mg tablets and it would be at least Monday before the order arrives. They contact the other pharmacy in town who have some of the 10mg tablets but would also have to order the 30mg tablets.

I took the prescription to the other pharmacy who gave me the 10mg tablets and the 30mg tablets should be there to collect tomorrow.

AIBU that to sit on a prescription for a week and only admit that they can't fill it when the doctors surgery chases them just is not good enough?

So not to drip feed, The texting error was that there is another person in the town with my name. The pharmacy has a text alert service to tell you when your prescription is ready to collect. I received two text messages during my holiday and when I called in as soon as I got back I was told there was nothing for me and they must have text me rather than the other person with my name. I called in again on Tuesday when the usual pharmacist was working to complain properly about this and was told that the store manager sends the text messages and so complained directly to him.

The pharmacy is Boots and although the pharmacist there knows me and my DS and the tablets that he has, it seems very obvious that I need to change to the other pharmacy.

What a bloody farce!!

Did they actually tell you that they told you they didn’t have it because they couldn’t fill it, or are you extrapolating that from what was said?

This is standard for Boots they are appalling. Every month they said they were struggling to get supply of my epilepsy tablets. Finally had enough when TWO days before Christmas !!! they said they couldn't get my tablets in at all (having told me for over a week "they were on order" but wouldn't give me my prescription back!! Thankfully my GP surgery sorted it with another pharmacy who interestingly have never had any problems at all obtaining my medication! Never ever use Boots they are hopeless.

I would recommend the following in this scenario.

1. It MIGHT have been that the surgery sent the prescription to the pharmacy late. Or that the prescription was left to be collected by the pharmacy but they weren't given it. So I would query this with the surgery first. Make sure that your prescriptions are definitely marked by the surgery as to which pharmacy is to collect them so they go in the correct place for them to collect.
2. You need to ask to talk to the pharmacy manager at Boots and explain the problems you had to them so they can do their best to fix it. Make sure you reiterate that your main concern is ensuring that your child always has the medication that they require for the benefit of their health and well-being.
3. If you ask the pharmacy and tell them that you will ensure that you collect your prescriptions from them every month they can adjust their ordering system so that the first order of every month will include a full months supply of your childs medication. They can even make it up for you when the stock comes in so it is ready for you to collect. Which would be about the 2nd of the month assuming stock levels are OK. Tell the pharmacy to call you when the prescription is ready to collect.
4. If the staff are actually struggling to acquire stock for you due to supply issues, ask that they call the manufacturer (while you are there). It can take a while (sometimes several hours on hold unfortunately) but usually the manufacturers are very helpful and they should have stock set aside for issues like this and be able to get it couriered down for you. If there is actually NO stock available then you would unfortunately need to change brands. Staff also have the ability to contact different suppliers to see if they have availability. Many chains are unhappy to do this as they are contracted to use certain suppliers and it can cost them extra money.

I am sorry you received poor service and that you had to go through this stress. If you do the above then there should not be an issue in the future. Although my preference where possible is always to use an independent pharmacy, even if it is only to keep variety on the high street.
I can't tell if you are BU or not as I don't know the pharmacy's reason for not being able to find the prescription. I do know that many many pharmacists are over-worked with inadequate breaks and very high targets to fulfill. I also know that most pharmacists and pharmacy staff work incredibly hard to ensure that their patients are well looked after and only want the best for them.

They said today 7 days after the script was written that they couldn't get hold of the 30mg tablets and that they only had a few 10mg tablets which would not be enough to last until Monday/Tuesday when hopefully the order would arrive.

It isn't although I'd not been in, or that they didn't have my contact details to tell me there was a problem with filling the prescription. It was only today when the surgery phoned them and I then went in to collect it that they told me about the ordering problems. Today, I might add, when I'd totally run out of tablets.

@Pixiedust2017 Many thanks for your detailed response. DS has been on these tablets for a couple of years now and up until this month, we've always had a good system with Boots where they order them in before the script comes down as they know what DS has and know that he's the only one and so they never have them in stock other than for him. It's so frustrating that it's had to get to this point and the stuff with them sending text messages to the wrong people (the pharmacist said that I was not the only person to have that happen to) has really made me lack confidence in them. If it wasn't something so important, I wouldn't mind so much, but DS really can't cope without his meds and school/life is hard enough for him as it is.

Regarding the brand issue, previously when they have had supply issues, the pharmacist ordered what he thought was another brand but it was a whole other medication which worked differently and had a whole set of side effects and so they know that DS must have this particular brand and no alternatives, which I appreciate must make a supppy issue even harder to work around. I just would have appreciated a heads up so that I could have contacted the other pharmacy earlier and had DS on his actual dose rather than having to give him 4 little tablets which will lead to us being down on those at the end of the month.

This is why you need to talk to the manager. In this case the staff could have said that as they were expecting a prescription for the medication they could have tried to order it in advance of the prescription arriving so it would have arrived in time for the prescription to get there and there would have been no potential gaps in patient medication. If they had problems getting the stock in they could have then called you. The pharmacy needs to be made aware of this so they can improve their customer communication and service and prevent it happening again, either to you or to someone else.
Without actual details I can't really be more helpful, but in the pharmacy's defense just because a prescription is written on a certain date doesn't mean that is the date they receive it.

I would complain about texting you when it’s meant for someone else with the same name, they should have a named data protection officer under GDPR.
I work in Pharmacy and our system it’s impossible to send a txt to the wrong person unless it’s saved incorrectly on a patient record in the first place. My manager would go nuts at us if that happened.

Posts like this reminds me why I never have and never will use a pharmacies repeat prescription service, I will only use paper prescriptions DH will pick it up as he works near the GP I can then take it into what ever pharmacy I happen to be working near at the time (I work over 3 sites in different towns) and if they don't have it in stock I take it away and go somewhere else.

i have been told on numerous occasions that my script has not arrived at the chemists from the gp's. commence the ping pong match of where is it then? to be eventually told it had stuck at the back of the computer at the gp's! anyone else heard this one?

I'd be suspicious that your prescription was given out to the person who has the same name as you in error.
It doesn't add up that a web text that's been set up for some time suddenly has the wrong details attached. Nor does it make sense that the store manager sends these texts, the pharmacy team would usually be in charge of doing this as they complete repeat prescriptions.
I would request they do an investigation into what happened.