Should the GP receptionist 'encourage' me to take my prescription

[ZillaPilla]

GP prescribed me some sleeping pills. I have not collected them from the surgery as 1) I had quite an extreme reaction to 1/2 a pill and can only take again when I do not have my young son with me (which is basically never) and 2) I have some MH issues and part of the management is not to have loads of meds at home.

GP is aware of this, but wrote the prescription so it's ready if an opportunity does arrive when DS2 isn't home.

Today I went to collect a different prescription. When I checked, it was actually the sleeping pills. No big deal, I hadn't thought to clarify which one I wanted so apologised and asked to change.

Receptionist then asked if I wanted to take the sleeping pills. I said no, I didn't need them at the moment. I think that this should have been the end of the matter, but then she asked was I sure, to which I said yes, I would like to leave them here.
She then went on to say "well, they're just going to sit here, why don't you take them". To this I just said quite firmly "I don't want to" and then made moves to indicate I was going to leave.

It's not a massive deal, she wasn't too pushy or loud or anything, so my AIBU is really to wonder whether it's her place to keep going on about something when the patient has already given a clear response.

Now if there is a reason they shouldn't sit there (some legal medical thing, or space or whatever) then she could explain that to me and it would be fine.

She probably just wondered why you’d bothered to use an appointment when you weren’t going to accept the help offered? Insisting on “leaving them there” does sound a bit odd.

Tell her the GP has advised you only pick it up if you need it and you currently don’t need it.

Like the PP. Shes probably quite confused as to why you arent taking it but theres a prescription.

Surely, if you dont want it. Take the bit of paper and throw it in the bin? If you cant take it right away collect the prescription and then put it in the cupboard until you can use it.

I think you should have either taken them
Home ready to use when you do want them or told them that actually you don’t want the prescription anymore and that they can reuse box or get rid of it etc. I think it’s unreasonable of you to expect the pharmacy to just sit with it there waiting for you to want it at your beck and call.

Our surgery only holds medication for a certain time, then it's removed. I'd assume there were The same and she doesn't understand why you'd accept a prescription and then not take it when you collect.

I don't see what she's done as wrong.

It should be on your notes that you aren't supposed to have lots of meds around it's on mine.

I suppose from her POV her job is to hand you all of your prescriptions and she isn’t to know that you won’t go home and then complain that she failed to give you all your scripts .

If it's the green copy of the prescription, this is only valid for a short while. If you had told her that you do not want the prescription she would of cancelled it from your records. Now it will look like you have been prescribed and you will have to see the gp if you need anymore as it will be classed as requesting a script early. Sleeping tablets are a controlled drug. Records need to be correct.

Headinthe I didn't use an appointment just to get sleeping pills, the GP offered them to me during a regular appt.

Chaz Thank you, that's a good response.

goodfor I wasn't given the prescription, it went straight from the GP office to the (on site) pharmacy. As I explained in my second point (and as the GP knows) I manage my MH problems by not having lots of medication at home.

Stripes I find your use of 'beck and call' rather insulting. I have explained my reasons in my OP.

Blunt Yes, I think mine only holds for a certain time, too, but I think it's months not days or weeks. I don't think she did anything wrong as such I am just wondering whether it's her place to keep asking when I've already responded.

Anyway, I think my situation is obviously quite unusual.

What are you wanting from this? Are you wanting to put in a complaint about her?

She is just doing her job.

If you don't want the meds, speak to your doctor regarding management if them.

Mean Ah right. I don't think she would have accessed my notes.

Goodness, no I don't want to complain, I was just curious.

My GP already knows that I will pick them up when/if I need to.

So it's the medication she wanted you to collect rather than the actual paper prescription?

I think that's entirely reasonable - GP surgeries and pharmacies aren't a storage facility, and there is a possibility they could be destroyed, moved or reissued.

What if you DID decide you wanted them and couldn't get to the pharmacy, or it was closed?

I understand not wanting too many meds at home but that is for you to manage, not the pharmacy/surgery. We can annotate records to say don't overissue (some of our patients are on limited prescribing or weekly issues) but a standard issue would be dispensed and it is up to the patient to manage thereafter.

I think the issue is that she won't have nosed at your medical records to see what was happening. I'm sure if she hadn't offered them and said something that meant she had read your private medical records you would be posting about that. It seems to be a lose lose situation?

Thanks all. I understand and will speak to my GP to ask how to better manage things.

I can ask a friend to help - I understand that the GP surgery isn't a holding place for me.

Why don't you take the prescription to the chemist and ask the chemist to hold the meds, that way you have access to them if you need them and won't have to explain to the receptionist why you don't want to take the script that the doctor has made out for you...

They will usually put them back on the shelf after 2 weeks if not collected. Otherwise there'd be a huge waste of drugs as stuff sat there going out of date. Not to mention they will take up a load of space and take ages to find anything as they will be sorting through piles of unclaimed medicines... About half of prescriptions are never collected - the pharmacist isn't to know that you actually have a reason to keep them sitting there unlike most people who just change their mind/feel better etc

If you don't want or need the drugs I wouldn't ask the GP to give you a prescription. If you change your mind you can always go back or probably request a phone appointment for them to check you can have them.

I don't see a problem with what she has said. It's sound to me that she was probably just wondering why you don't take the prescription with you and keep it at home so it's there for you to take to a pharmacy when you need the pills. What if you decided you needed the pills when the surgery was closed but could still make it to a late night pharmacy? At least you'd have the prescription. She wasn't actively encouraging you to go home and take the pills just because you've been prescribed them, just to take a piece of paper with you in which case YABU.

To be clear, it was the actual pills she wanted me to take, not the piece of paper (that went straight from GP office to surgery pharmacy).

No, I don't think what she did was wrong, it was more that she asked me 3 times and I was feeling increasingly uncomfortable.
But I have already said I will try and arrange thing differently.

I didn't ask the GP to give me those meds, he suggested I did and I agreed but explained that I needed to find the right time to take them (when I am not caring for my son, as I said in my OP).

It's a good idea to have the actual green slip so I can take to a supermarket pharmacy in future.

In that case YANBU! You shouldn't be forced to take the pills home with you especially since it's part of your treatment plan. I agree with you that saying no the first time should have been sufficient.

@ZillaPilla yes I agree about the prescription being handed to you rather than to their on site pharmacy in this case would be much better for you and also as the meds are likely to cost a fair bit to the nhs.

Also, the receptionist probably had no idea what the meds were for.

didn't use an appointment just to get sleeping pills, the GP offered them to me during a regular appt.

Really? You went in with something unrelated and they offered you sleeping pills?

had a reaction to half a tablet
You’ve had them before or filled the first prescription? So why was there a further one? Or, why would you ask for it to be filled if you knew they made you ill?

You realise once it’s filled, it can’t go back on the shelf? Perhaps she is concerned you are wasting resources. She isn’t unreasonable to not want to store medicines you might or might not take. Why not take them and bin them if you don’t want them? Or keep them in your own cupboard if you think you might use them?

She did nothing wrong IMO, she just doesn’t want your crap lying around their office.

If you knew you weren’t going to use the pills or were aware that you couldn’t, why didn’t you just tell the doctor this when he offered you the prescription?
Genuinely flummoxed as to why you’d allow them to fill a prescription and then just stand there refusing to take them; telling the receptionist you wanted to just leave them there
It’s frankly bizarre, and ridiculously wasteful.

You realise once it’s filled, it can’t go back on the shelf

This is absolutely not true. As long as it has not been handed out, and is in date, then it can go back to stock if it is not required.

It would be far more wasteful to take the tablets, not use them and let them go out of date. Once they have been handed out, they can only be used or destroyed. They cannot be given to another patient.

OP: Unless it is for a controlled drug, a prescription is valid for 6 months. They should be able to keep a note on it to say that you will collect it when/if you need it.