to wish HRT was available in large quantities?

[DominiqueBernard]

A month always seems to pass so quickly and then back to the pharmacy again!

Once I asked the pharmacist for 3 months' worth of Oestrogel at once and they asked if I were going on holiday as typically they don't have enough in stock to give patients more than 1 month at a time.

I respect supply chains and all of the other valid reasons for giving 1 month at a time but still find it a bit of a pita to go to the pharmacy every 4 weeks.

(And that the Oestroegel bottle seems to go from pretty full to completely empty from one day to the next...)

I get 6 months at a time. Crazy to have only month by month.

Can’t you use a delivery service like Pharmacy2U?

Glad it's not just me. I can't even order HRT online, it's the one medication I have to phone up and reorder - every month, using exactly the same number as anyone trying to get an appt so it can take days and numerous tries.

It's absolutely ridiculous.

I don't think you get more than 3 months of anything! I am on thyroxine for my underactive thyroid and have been for years, I get a "serial prescription" from the GP which is ongoing rather than me having to re-order new tablets every 8 weeks or whatever. But I still only get 2 boxes at a time, they don't give out a year's supply.

Same with HRT, I get 3 months supply of patches each time I order them. When there were/are shortages of patches or gel, the protocol was to give just one pack of patches or bottle of gel to make sure that every woman could access their meds. No point in Julie having 3 bottles of gel in the cupboard when Sue and Anna can't get hold of any at all - better that each woman has one. There are still issues with some patches and progesterone tablets from time to time. The only advice is to order your prescription in advance so you're not in the situation of desperately phoning round every chemist to try to track down a packet of patches.

Also my pharmacy has started to deliver which is amazing, just call the GP to order a repeat and the next day a wee man turns up with it at the door. In Scotland we don't pay for prescriptions, so obviously women are reluctant to pay £50 for 3 x boxes of patches which they can get free on the NHS. I have done it before, but very few people do.

There is a push not to prescribe large quantities of any medication, unless something which is lifelong and the dose won’t be changed. This is to try and reduce the wastage of medication (esepcially of medications where there is a supply issue) and stop wasting money.

it is quite common for medications on repeat to be changed - dose goes up or down, preparation type changed, medication changed to an alternative or medication stopped and if you’ve had a years worth dispensed already, it cannot be taken back to give to someone else. Prescriptions charges don’t actually cover the whole cost of the medication and dispensing costs in most cases, so the subsidy is wasted if the medication can’t be used. Some areas are pushing this more strongly than others and obviously your GP can choose to ignore it or might do so on a case by case basis (e.g. on holiday/going travelling etc).

There has been some research looking at medication waste from prescriptions and a phenomenal amount of money is wasted- obviously this is only one part of that (it’s quite a complex picture) and I’m not saying that cutting down longer term prescriptions will solve all the problems, or that there are not lots of people who have been on the same medication at the same dose for a long time who may be inconvenienced unnecessarily if smaller quantities of medication are dispensed each time.

I do think you could probably get it extended from monthly to a 3 month prescription. Alternatively, look at some of the online pharmacies who will deliver it monthly via post/courier, if the main problem is actually getting to the pharmacy.

They won't! You're all very lucky. I've asked repeatedly and my GP surgery will not do it.

GPs seem to have their own policies with this. I guess they want to reduce waste but that doesn't change the fact that it's a PITA.

DH has regular eye drops and they'll only give him enough for about 5 weeks at a time. My mum also has regular eye drops and has been told to use a lot of them by her consultant so uses about 4 weeks worth in 3 weeks. GP still won't give her them more often, so she has to get them from Amazon as well.

It's particularly a nuisance when you can't put the repeat prescription in until eg 5 days before you run out, but they take 7 days to process the prescription!

I get 6 months of Premarin tablets at a time. Woirks for me.

I get 3 months worth of patches (I did use to get 6-12 months worth until a change in practice policy). However, due to the SSP for Uterogestan I am only issued 2 boxes at a time - which is a pain as 1 month use is 42 tablets so I get a month and a half worth! The pharmacy have tried to contact the surgery to sort it out but it seems to elude them! I must try again as I can't see any thing to suggest the SSP is still in effect.

Most meds are 4 weekly, annoying I know. Dp is on a drug that he really can't not have and I spend a week of every month tracking down supplies (online were the worst, they simply send you an out of stock email a week after it was due!)

If it’s helpful to anyone, I will add that I use online services Pharmacy2you to make life much easier and have also never encountered any queries or supply problems. It’s stress free and takes the load off for me.

I don’t have to faff about driving to the surgery or pharmacy, waiting, queuing, negotiating, return visits - nothing.

I literally press one button online from my sunlounger (if on holiday) and the products arrive stress-free and like clockwork in my postbox 5 days later.