To think this is too long for repeat prescriptions?

[Caerulea]

The waiting time for prescriptions at our surgery (rural, dispensary on-site, no pharmacy in the village) is now at 14 days. They've been working their 'backlog' for a couple of years now & the time just takes longer and longer.

They recently said we can put requests in up to 10 days in advance of when we need the meds but they are over-running every month. This month I would have been 3 days without my anti-depressants having put my request in on the 19th. Rang today to chase, was told to go down. Sent eldest to grab them & they refused. I rang again, they refused & just said it would be tomorrow at some point. Put the phone down & burst into tears at which point DH grabbed the car keys and drove down there. Came back with the prescription (without being aggy, prolly just looked desperate cos he knows tomorrow would be really unpleasant for me).

But really? 14 days turnaround? How long are you guys having to wait?

YABU - that's just how it is, suck it up buttercup
YANBU - that's batshit! Are they hand-pressing each pill?

would they be any speedier to submit the prescription to an online pharmacy that then delivers the medication?

Ours is the next day or sometimes even the same day if you request in the morning. I would really struggle with your system!

That’s ridiculous.
It’s about 48 hours from requesting to picking up at mine.

Our old pharmacy wanted 8 working days. My mum still uses them and sent in her request with 10 days notice, went to collect it on day 11 and it wasn't ready . Went in on day 13 (snow on dau 12 and my mum is unsteady on her feet) and the pharmacy manager said it had all been sent back to the supplier as she hasn't collected for two weeks.
My new one turned around my repeat prescription in under 24 hours. Ordered yesterday at 1. Collected today at 12.30

Ours is 5 days which I thought was bad. 14 days is ridiculous!

Can you not order through the NHS app and have it sent to another pharmacy of your choice? You can nominate any pharmacy that suits you.

Pharmacy2U takes about 5 working days to be delivered, same as my local pharmacy. 14 days shows something is very wrong.

72 hours at ours although they are often ready a lot quicker . Also a village surgery but does have several GPs and it is efficient in general .

That's not an option in the app for me, I'll have to go down & sort it all in the surgery itself to be able to pick them up elsewhere. Can do very little online with them, not even message or book appointments in advance

I know this is different as I used to get my mini pill from this but what about something like pharmacy2u? I can't remember who it was with (could have been Lloyds) but they used to deliver my prescriptions to me. rather than having to rely on the shop pharmacy.

Any medication like antidepressants should be treated with the most urgency! so sorry you are dealing with that X

Christ I think I'd have eaten someone's head for that one! Your poor mum!

That's ridiculous. I deal with repeats for myself, parent and grandparent at 3 different surgeries and I've never known it to take more than 48 hours and usually less.

Ours is 48 hours and you can't collect unless they've sent a text to say it's ready. I sometimes just buy things from online pharmacies as it's easier than getting a doctors appointment!

https://www.pharmacy2u.co.uk/prescriptions

Afaik they don't work with anyone who offers that service, the only way to get the prescription is to do it online & then go in & pick it up. I have to go in person to make a change to picking it up from the nearest pharmacy (half hour round trip).

This is the fun bit...they do this with my mum's insulin (she's T1) which I'd argue is even more urgent!

I do mine online. Request prescription, its sent to the gp for approval. Usually there within a few days. I'm sorry you are having such a struggle

They surely can't just insist you use their crap pharmacy? Are you in England? If so have you tried registering for the NHS app? Mine don't really advertise it, but they're definitely on there.

I'd be inclined to speak to the manager there and find out what the issue is. I would say that long is unacceptable and I would be looking at an online service if there are no pharmacies nearby.

In my area it takes the GP surgery 2 days to process a prescription, however they are short staffed like everywhere and experience illness, so at busier times of the year, I appreciate it may take longer. That is the time to generate a repeat prescription and get the prescriber to sign and check its appropriateness. It then takes the pharmacy 48 hours to get it ready in terms of dispensing the prescription, so labelling it, making it up and getting the pharmacist to check it. 48 hours given them enough time to order if not in stock. Some items can be what we consider 'specials' and in that case they take much longer to receive from the suppliers

Your prescription should not warrant such a wait. You are well within your right to find somewhere else. This is going to take some effort on your part.

They don't do my prescription, how weird?

Can you use the NHS app instead of your surgery one? You can change the dispensing pharmacy for repeats.

Mine take about 3 days from request going to the dr to being ready at the pharmacy!

Far too long. Our pharmacy state it can take 48 hours (mostly to cover ourselves in case we need to order in a medication) but most of the time it takes a few hours maximum from receiving the EPS to it being dispensed, checked, bagged and filed ready for collection.

If a script was urgent such as antibiotics or someone had run out of their supply then we prioritise and have a roughly 20 minute turnaround time.

Max 2 days but can be issues if they won't reissue without a doc appointment first. Then it can become long.

I usually get my prescriptions within three working days of the request. I use the NHS app. to order mine.

I order my repeat through the NHS app and it is ready 48 hours later to collect at the chemist.