to not understand why we settle for things as a nation (prescription related)

[TransplantedScouser]

I have a very low level underlying condition (reflux).

I used to phone each month to the doctors to get a repeat prescription.

then they said, go onto batch. We send the prescription over to the pharmacy every six months and all you have to do is collect it each month. Now, bearing in mind you used to get 3-6 months prescriptions in one go so having to do it monthly was a pain in the backside this was a good thing.

Everything worked well for a couple of years.

Went to pick up my latest prescription yesterday - not ready.

Apparently you now have to phone the pharmacy 7 days before you want to collect it to ask them to make the batch up.

I have to admit this sent me a little bat shit. what is the time saving in that? I may as well just phone the doctors every month for a repeat prescription if I'm going to have to phone the pharmacy anyway.

They have taken a system that worked well and basically regressed back.

the pharmacist said "Well the batch was just to save the doctors time having to write a prescription each month".

So, AIBU to think this is another case of the NHS being set up for the convenience of the staff and not the patient?

After this batch I'm going to get a private prescription and cancel my NHS pre pay.

I can get a six month prescription including the fee for the doctor doing it for less than six months pre pay costs me. And I only have to worry about it twice a year.

I registered with Asda pharmacy , they contact the surgery every two months when my repeats are due , it's sent to the pharmacy for collection. I just ring to see if it's ready.

It's so easy and I'm sure many pharmacies do the same . No need for all the phone calls many on here make.

Yanbu. It's ridiculous. Another example of NHS in efficiency.
Amazon prime are starting it soon, or pharmacy2u. It's 2021 not 1921.

The OPs issue is with the pharmacy, which won't be run by the NHS.

Try the app called ECHO.

Meds delivered to your house.

You just have to log in to get raise a prescription request.

Then log in when that's ready to say you definitely want the medicine dispatched.

You get notifications so it's really easy

I used it for a while because I couldn't phone the docs (don't need the meds now)

I checked and it doesnt cost the NHS any extra to use this app/process

@RainingBatsAndFrogs

Phoning a pharmacy once a month to ask that your prescriptions be prepared is not an indication that the NHS is not fit for purpose.

Will they answer the phone though, or will you only be able to request your prescription between 11 and 12 on the second Tuesday of the month?

Why should British people be grateful for any medical treatment? One of the richest countries in the world - why is it such a brilliant deal to pay peanuts and get a rubbish service? We live in Germany now and health insurance costs a lot more than in the UK but the service is ten times better

This. The NHS is NOT free and we DO pay for it via our taxes. I would prefer to live with a health insurance model. I know the German system is being chipped away at as well, and you do have to pay for certain things, but it's much better than our hallowed NHS.

Sorry OP, but like others say, this seems like such a minor inconvenience

annevonlevke “Will they answer the phone though, or will you only be able to request your prescription between 11 and 12 on the second Tuesday of the month?”

Whether they do or not, the pharmacy is not part of the NHS. So hardly an indicator of whether the NHS is fit for purpose.

I think the time saving aspect is supposed to save the GP’s time. They spend hours signing prescriptions. If they don’t have to do as many by sending 6 months worth of long term medication to the pharmacy then they can use this time to see patients.

Also there are millions and millions of pounds wasted each year on medication that hasn’t been collected from the pharmacy. The pharmacy will be asking you to call ahead so they know you definitely need a supply of the medication.

Considering it’s freeing up GP appts and saving the NHS potentially a lot of money I think the system is amazing

Also can I just add that pharmacies are independent from the NHS. Their system of prescription collecting is entirely down to them and has nothing to do with the GP surgery or NHS.

Yeah be grateful for your shitty service. My son’s prescriptions are a constant battle. I use the echo app for both him and me but for some reason they like to just ignore his so I have to get a CPN EVERYTIME to ring the GP sort it out as emergency. The time it wastes is ridiculous], not to mention the stress. God the NHS is a right pile of shit.

The NHS is not set up for anyone’s convenience - it is aimed to get the best value healthcare for the most amount of people/clinical need for the least amount of financial cost to the nation

😂😂😂 It really is not. The amount of money that is wasted is ridiculous. Tendering for a contractor to supply them pens at £100 a box.

I order my repeat prescription on the nhs app every month for my chronic illness and I get a text from my nominated pharmacy when it's ready to collect. Seems like a great system to me.

@RozHuntleysStump can you just use the NHS app instead of via Echo? Or if it happens everytime pop a repeat into the GP/phone to request one? If it happens everytime seems odd to keep doing it and creating ultimately more work and more stress for yourself

I don’t think one phone call a month to get medication can be classed as a bad service. Many pharmacies who have the bulk prescription service will wait until the patient gets in touch to try to reduce waste.

I have many complaints over the years about sorting DS meds (having to phone 4 different places a month and pick up from 3 different places) as things regularly go wrong along the way. But I fully understand why a pharmacist won’t want to dispense something until they know it’s needed.

yes. of course. It's totally my stupid fault the GP ignore the perfectly valid prescription request.

It seems ridiculous to do the same thing over and over when you get the same results. No it's not your fault, but why do it to yourself.

@Poppynit & @TrufflyPig
I almost didn’t reply to this because pretty much everything’s been said; but then I saw your posts & hated to think you’d been upset, so wanted to say community & hospital pharmacists are awesome Mine have helped keep me out of hospital (admissions-wise, not all my appointments can be virtual) since the end of February.

I’ve got a complicated prescription & my community pharmacy have been superstars about filling it & delivering it to me as quickly as possible; which often means the pharmacist or his wife bringing it up here when they finish work, rather than waiting for the next regular delivery day. They also check with me if they need to get a different version of something because they know I can’t have all versions of everything.

I spent almost all year on a hospital-supplied drug & my consultant merrily changing it on the 21st of December (to a shortage one not normally used in the community ) was left to that team’s pharmacist to sort out. Had she not done so (with help from one of the outpatient pharmacy teams at the Trust) I’d almost certainly have ended up in hospital.

Luckily my community pharmacy joined Twitter this year, which made expressing my appreciation much easier. And being able to contact PALS to say Nice Things about hospital staff is so much the best use of it

Please PLEASE don’t think that nobody appreciates what you do: lots of people know that your contribution is invaluable. I literally rely on pharmacy teams to keep me functioning - as do lots of other people.

@MarieVanGoethem That's lovely to hear, glad you have a great relationship with your pharmacy team.

People on here always love to moan about jobs they don't fully understand. I don't know how the teachers cope with all the negative threads about them!

@TrufflyPig
They’re fab, & other local pharmacies have been really helpful in pre-Covid times too. I know it’s not an easy job, & the pandemic will’ve made it far harder. People massively giving out about you all &/or whinging about absolute nonsense (as opposed to the raising of legitimate concerns about specific people) must be really disheartening.

The whole thread is ridiculous to be honest.

OP had dealings with a private business (nothing to do with the way the NHS is run). Said businesses made a slight change to their service terms in order to help them cope during a very busy and difficult time.

OP found this too inconvenient so she changed the company with whom she dealt. She was happy with this new service.

I see no need no for the post bashing the NHS and pharmacy in general.

@Anycrispsleft

YANBU but good luck getting anyone British to agree with you. It's this "God bless the NHS, we should be thankful for any treatment they can give us" attitude that leads to things like that maternity scandal - this culture of deference, of never complaining. Why should British people be grateful for any medical treatment? One of the richest countries in the world - why is it such a brilliant deal to pay peanuts and get a rubbish service? We live in Germany now and health insurance costs a lot more than in the UK but the service is ten times better. You could maybe have quibbled about the importance of things like having a wide choice of appointment times at the GP, dedicated paediatric GP surgeries and same-day in-practice blood tests and x rays for example, but now that we are in the middle of a pandemic with numbers similar to the UK but non covid appointments and operations still carrying on, it's clear it's worth every penny.

While I don't necessarily agree wholeheartedly with your specific point. OP, and do take the points that others have made about people not collecting their meds, not necessarily requiring them, etc., I agree absolutely with Anycrispsleft

I am a retired hospital consultant and I think the NHS has deteriorated beyond all comprehension. It has peen problematic for years but developments in recent years are beyond concerning. We are paying (and we ARE paying) for a shit service but because it is free at the point of use not enough questions are asked about the quality of service our money is buying, let alone whether we should be paying more.

GPs are apparently doing very little and want to do less. There is no culture of public service or vocation any more. The wrong people are going into Medicine. training is awful. attitude is awful.

I have had to point out my own fractures on X-ray three times in the past few years because the A and E Dr missed them on each occasion (and I was not a radiologist or an orthopod). I also had to insist on my own diagnosis of biliary colic as the A and E Dr did not appreciate that colic is an intermittent pain. (and was proved correct). And this is in a major teaching hospital.

The NHS is no longer fit for purpose and the worship of it in this country is a huge problem as it is a barrier to any discussion about its overhaul.

@MarieVanGoethem oh thank you, I’m having an awful day at work (just been told by a patient that they’re going to stab me with a used needle 😂) so your comment has really made my day. Thank you ❤️

just been told by a patient that they’re going to stab me with a used needle 😂

I've had this exact threat made before too!! 😂😂😂

While I don't necessarily agree wholeheartedly with your specific point. OP, and do take the points that others have made about people not collecting their meds, not necessarily requiring them, etc., I agree absolutely with Anycrispsleft I am a retired hospital consultant and I think the NHS has deteriorated beyond all comprehension. It has peen problematic for years but developments in recent years are beyond concerning. We are paying (and we ARE paying) for a shit service but because it is free at the point of use not enough questions are asked about the quality of service our money is buying, let alone whether we should be paying more
GPs are apparently doing very little and want to do less. There is no culture of public service or vocation any more. The wrong people are going into Medicine. training is awful. attitude is awful. The NHS is no longer fit for purpose and the worship of it in this country is a huge problem as it is a barrier to any discussion about its overhaul.

I agree there is a lot wrong with the NHS and the cult-like devotion to it is unhelpful. We need to acknowledge and fix the problems, while also acknowledging its many achievements.

However, with regard to this: GPs are apparently doing very little and want to do less. There is no culture of public service or vocation any more. The wrong people are going into Medicine. training is awful. attitude is awful you are talking out of your arse.

I was a hospital doctor for some years before I became a GP. As a hospital doctor, you have absolutely no idea what goes on in general practice, or how cosseted and protected you are in hospital medicine, even if it may not feel like it. General practice is like your worst ever outpatients clinic, twice a day, 5 days a week - but with no nurse or trainees to help out. And there is no secretary or booking office to protect you - you have 2000 patients who can contact you for any reason for 10 hours a day, every day - about anything. And, on top of that you have got to run a small business.

You clearly know nothing about primary care, yet are happy to slag off your erstwhile colleagues from a position of ignorance, so your claim that the wrong people are now going into medicine is a little ironic.

As someone who lives in the US with no health insurance, I am literally laughing at this even being an issue worthy of a fairly lengthy post.

In the middle of a raging worldwide pandemic you went 'a little batshit' at pharmacy staff because you were told to call once a month for a repeat prescription?

Get some perspective.