Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To make a complaint to drs surgery

64 replies

GnomeDePlume · 12/03/2020 22:41

I take warfarin for a blood clotting disorder. My condition is managed by the haematology unit at my local hospital. They manage my blood testing and warfarin dosage. The only part my Drs surgery play in this is to issue the prescription and send it electronically to a pharmacy who dispense & post the prescription.

I noticed that I had about 12 day's worth of warfarin left so went on line to order a new prescription. Not possible as can only order a repeat prescription within 7 days. I made a special request citing that it can sometimes take a few days for the prescription to flow through the system and get dispensed/ posted.

After a few days I checked for progress and have found that while my prescription was issued promptly, rather than sending the prescription electronically it was posted (possibly second class according to receptionist). After a week it finally arrived and is only now being dispensed.

Would I be unreasonable to make a complaint to the practice manager?

I dont want an apology I just want to be reassured that the person who made the decision to post the prescription has been put right and this isnt the new standard practice.

OP posts:
Original poster
GnomeDePlume · 13/03/2020 07:01

I appreciate that my blood disorder is not part of the national crisis however not having warfarin means that my blood gets clumpy (which is a bit of a crisis for me).

My meds havent arrived yet. If they dont arrive by Monday I will have to go into the surgery and ask for an emergency prescription. In that case I will make a suggestion that second class post is not a good idea for sending prescriptions out.

Thanks all for your input.

OP posts:
always2ndbest · 13/03/2020 07:12

Prescription clerk here. Electronic prescriptions don't always work. They are dependent on a lot of factors and sometimes it's not possible to send electronically. The surgery don't send directly to the pharmacy, it first goes to the NHS spine where the pharmacy then logs on and claims it and then downloads it. Sometimes the spine goes off line. The doctor may have forgotten his smart card, in which case he won't be able to connect to the spine so any scripts he signs will print out. Your record may have uncoupled from the spine, this happens if you use secondary care, such as hospitals, and someone updates your records there so your records no longer match the surgeries. There are a lot of factors that can and do go wrong and most surgeries are not fans of online pharmacies as they aren't always reliable with posting meds, which in its self isn't safe, but we then end up with very upset and angry patients demanding emergency scripts as the online pharmacy has failed to deliver in time.

We are bogged down with much more serious issues right now and your surgery have upheld their responsibility to issue you a prescription. It's your decision to use a pharmacy hundreds of miles away rather than just collect locally and the consequences of that are delays due to the post. I suggest you support a local pharmacy.

Elliemayclampett · 13/03/2020 07:18

I'd say the main problem is you using an online pharmacy who can take 7 days to get a prescription dispensed and sent in the post.

If you send your prescription to a local pharmacy you get it the same day.

Online pharmacy warehouses are putting local pharmacies out of business.

SpringFan · 13/03/2020 07:19

Understand your concerns completely, but do not be taken in by the on line pharmacies save NHS money claims . They don't. Their dispensing fees etc are the same as the high street.
They are probably more profitable-fewer staff per 10000 scrìpts, bigger purchasing discounts but the NH S doesn't get much if sny of the benefit..(possibly gets tiny discount on drug costs ) Use your local pharmacy they can get the electronic scripts and probably would have sorted your script issue directly with the surgery.

NannyR · 13/03/2020 07:49

Can you change your pharmacy to one you can pick up from rather than waiting to have the drugs posted out to you? My repeat prescription goes to the 24hr Tesco pharmacy and I can pick it up two working days after I order it online.

Hannah888 · 13/03/2020 08:09

I no longer drive so sought to change my pharmacy recently. I found 4 closer to my home needed 7 days to dispense a prescription, possibly 10. I found the reason for this is that all of them send their scripts to a central hub where they are dispensed and then returned to the pharmacy for collection. I enquired how one should deal with a script for say antibiotics and learned these are dispensed on the same day. My surgery no longer allows for prescriptions to be collected. The days when you had your prescription and your pills or potions in thirty minutes are long gone. I reflected on this change and wonder if it is to save every pharmacy having to keep a stock of potentially expensive drugs.

Elliemayclampett · 13/03/2020 08:22

It tends to be the larger chain pharmacies, lloyds, Boots etc who use dispensing hubs.
Your local independent pharmacy won't. Mine dispenses my prescription within 24 hours.

Original poster
GnomeDePlume · 13/03/2020 08:24

Thank you for the input. Interesting to understand how the online prescribing works. If there is an issue with using an electronic pharmacy then I wish someone would have said something or put a message on the electronic prescription system.

I am likely to be taking warfarin for the rest of my days. I have Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APLS). Warfarin is the only licensed option. All I want to achieve is a process which requires the minimum interaction between anybody. A small overlap of prescription means that if any part in the process trips up briefly I am not left as I am now with my last dose on Sunday night.

Unfortunately there are no 24 hour pharmacies nearby and I work an hour's drive away from home so popping into a local pharmacy isnt always easy.

OP posts:
always2ndbest · 13/03/2020 08:46

Your prescription can be sent to a pharmacy near where you work. The advantages of using a nearby pharmacy are that they are more able to rectify anything that goes wrong with the system. You are relying on a company posting your medication.... there are just so many things that can and do go wrong with that system. Drugs not arriving on time, parcels going missing or bring stolen... the meds are posted... I had one patron in tears as her dog had eaten her parcel and sadly died. We do not promote online pharmacies. You are just a number to them, not a person. Your local pharmacy can loan you medication when the surgery are closed, they can communicate an issue more quickly and we can then resend, reprint or reissue urgent meds a lot faster than relying on a pharmacy hundreds of miles away.

Sadly we are often not awareness of problems in the electronics system. Prescription clerks send the script to the gp for reauthorising but we are usually not told if a GP isn't able to access the spine. Sometimes a GP will have hundreds of scripts to reauthorise and will try to do them as safely and quickly as possible and will just hand a pile of printed scripts to the receptionist to sort as some patients still like to collect their scripts and some meds can't go electronically. If systems are down, then everything is printed. A local pharmacy will collect and drop of repeats daily to the surgery, so there is no interruption to the "system" for the patient. Obviously not the case with online pharmacies.

CherryPavlova · 13/03/2020 08:56

You have several options.
Collect the prescription yourself and take to a pharmacy.
Choose a different pharmacy.
Collect drugs from the pharmacy.

Where you work isn’t really their problem. Why aren’t people doing INR prescribing at the hospital and dispensing an adequate amount? Its putting additional risk of transcribing errors into the process.

Original poster
GnomeDePlume · 13/03/2020 09:21

I dont know why the prescribing is done by GP when they arent involved in blood testing, reviewing or dosage calculation. Possibly it is so that the GP is aware that I am on warfarin if I were to be prescribed anything else (warfarin is a problem when alongside a lot of 'normal' prescribed meds such as penicillin).

Where I work isnt my doctors problem and I dont expect it to be. I thought that using an electronic system would make the whole thing more streamlined for everyone.

OP posts:
Hannah888 · 15/03/2020 07:33

Elliemauclampett

All 4 of the pharmacies I described are independents

Original poster
GnomeDePlume · 15/03/2020 07:52

It does seem daft that the solution to the problem of being able to reliably get my meds is to go into surgery/pharmacy and stand around with all the other ill people to wait for my prescription to be dispensed.

OP posts:
Bibijayne · 15/03/2020 07:56

Perhaps phrase it as a comment not a complaint? Or a question? I think being reassured that your medication won't run out in the future is not unreasonable. Which is the crux of the issue here.

MaomiMak · 15/03/2020 07:57

If you prescription turns up on time it will have done you no harm as you got it in time.

If it turns up a day late you would have missed one pill which is unlikely to cause you harm.

Why is it people no longer form the basis of a complaint on the harm that was caused to them but just because ...because they might not have had something on time.

I'm sorry but get a grip

Bibijayne · 15/03/2020 08:00

@GnomeDePlume is there a local.oharmaxy who work with your GP practice? I have had a few repeat prescriptions in the past. I could call/ e-request my next prescription online and it would then be sent to a local pharmacy who worked with my surgery. They would then call to say I could.colelxt or they could drop around on their medication delivery day. Super helpful and streamlined.

Bibijayne · 15/03/2020 08:00

*pharmacy.

Original poster
GnomeDePlume · 15/03/2020 08:35

@MaomiMak I'm afraid that warfarin doesnt work like that. It is a delicate balance. Too much and my blood is too thin and I am at risk of haemorrhage. Too little and I run the risk of blood clot.

If my meds dont arrive tomorrow then the fall back is to use the injectable anticoagulant which strangely I am allowed to keep in stock.

@Bibijayne absolutely, I wasnt going to go into the surgery and bang the desk! What I will do is send an email to suggest that posting off prescriptions second class to a pharmacy is not a good idea.

Second class post is fine for sending Christmas cards in November. So long as they arrive before Christmas there is no problem. For prescriptions that level of unreliability is just not approriate.

There is a pharmacy in the same building but I have had problems with the prescription not making the journey (all of 20 feet) between surgery and pharmacy. Not insurmountable obviously but I have had several occasions when the repeat prescription request has then had to be chased back and forth and given to a doctor to sign off in a rush.

OP posts:
MaomiMak · 15/03/2020 08:50

Ok when my mum frequently forgets to order her meds on time, sometimes the pharmacist will give her 2-3 to tide her over.

Is there any way your pharmacist could do that if they know you and show them the empty box?

SirTobyBelch · 15/03/2020 08:50

The daft thing is that warfarin really is cheap as chips.

It is also very dangerous. Why do people assume the NHS's efforts to control the circulation of potentially lethal drugs is all about cost?

Borington · 15/03/2020 08:52

My pharmacy would give me 1/2/3 days tablets in advance in these circumstances. It’s a blood pressure medication that I’m on.

If you always use the same pharmacy, could they do that for you occasionally?

TurquoiseDress · 15/03/2020 08:54

I'd ask to speak with the practice manager before launching into a complaint

Seriously, I think GP surgeries have more than enough to deal with at the moment let alone more complaints that could be resolved by speaking with PM

DaveMinion · 15/03/2020 08:55

YABU for using an online pharmacy for a dose dependant drug like warfarin. You can’t get it quickly that way. You should just switch back to a local pharmacy and get it in a couple of days.

You’ve found out the hard way online pharmacies do t work for everyone. Sorry. Not the Gp’s fault at all.

MsMD · 15/03/2020 08:59

Online pharmacies are awful, complain that it takes them so long to dispense your prescription not that the GP bends to your whims and sends to those places. 7 days is sufficient for everyone who uses a regular pharmacy because it takes 15 minutes. Your decision to use a pharmacy miles away is the problem here.

2Rebecca · 15/03/2020 09:04

We only post out prescriptions if patients send a SAE, otherwise patients either pick them up from the surgery or arrange for a local pharmacy to pick it up on their behalf (their responsibility). We have enough to do without bespoke dispensing requests. We can issue scripts early though for holidays etc and usually only refuse for repeat early requests for medication that can be abused/ addictive/ sold