The nhs is falling on its knees :(

[BrowHair95]

And I’m sick of chasing everything up!! This is more of a rant really.

I had a gynaecology appointment on 29th July. I was prescribed birth control which is really important for me to have following a sad but necessary abortion.

The gynaecologist told me to hand my prescription into the on-site pharmacy. They advised me this would be around an hour wait, which was a little frustrating but I made it work - I waited in the cafe.

After an hour I approached the pharmacy. Once they did, I was told “we don’t do that tablet here”.

To make matters even worse, I was told I could collect it from my GP “in about a week”. No set time or urgency, just very casual about it.

And lo and behold, here I am over THREE WEEKS later, with absolutely no prescription to collect at my GP.

I have sent two complaint emails with no responses.

I just called the hospital. I spoke to a rude lady who said that it’s not their fault, that it’s been lost and they don’t have the prescription anywhere. It’s not been communicated somehow and that they can’t prescribe pills, I need to do it through my GP. The hospital said they sent a letter to them.

I’ve just contacted the GP and they have absolutely no record of a letter!!

So I now have to spend my time AGAIN trying to contact the same lady to tell her this doesn’t exist.

How is this even happening?? Honestly I’m sick to death of it. I work 9-5 and having to spend time chasing things up that other people should be doing!

The GP should be able to prescribe any contraceptive? They don’t need to wait for a letter ?

It’s so confusing, they said I need a letter or “proof”. I am spending so much time on the phone 😭

It's always been shit

It sounds like a bad experience for sure and I hope it’s resolved but we’ve just had some amazing care for my elderly mum and my GP is brilliant. It’s not falling on its knees based on my experience.

Might be worth asking your GP if they can send an 'advice and guidance' request to gynaecology to clarify the medication plan.

Makes you wonder where the hundreds of billions are going. It never had more money and been worse. It’s a money pit for which no amount of money will ever be enough.

It is unfortunately very common for communication to fail between departments or between hospital and GP.

sorry you are dealing with this.

How frustrating! I would suggest asking the consultant's secretary to email the letter to you and then you send it or hand it in to your GP surgery.

I'd be fairly sure that all the talk of patients missing NHS appointments is down to the NHS itself. My poor Mum ever knows whether she is coming or going when trying to keep track of my Dad's appointments. They get phone calls saying he has missed appointments, when no letter has been received. He gets letters after the date of the appointment. He gets appointments sent whist he is in hospital, but my Mum can't cancel them as the phones are always engaged. Info from the hospital often doesn't make it to the GP, he can't get timely appointments at the GP for things his consultants say need checking.
I have cancer and whilst the communication to me from my hospital is actually decent, the communication between departments is dire and treatment delays are appalling.

Is it a special contraceptive you need? If not, can you look a GP appointment and get it from them?

This is why I use online pharmacies and private GPs where I can.

It costs more, but by the time I have factored in the faff it’s actually cheaper eg a 6 week wait for an appointment, driving there, paying for parking, waiting ages, queuing at the pharmacy, going back a while later only to be told it’s out of stock, going back to the GP again. Endless phone calls. And repeat.

Instead I pay circa £30 and have my medication delivered to my door.

It shouldn’t be this way, but it’s clearly broken. I also think that by sorting myself out I’m freeing a slot for someone else, and easing pressure on the system.

Im guessing it’s not a standard brand of contraceptive , but yes this story is all too common , the NHS is sadly on its knees and I can’t see if they’re going to be able to pull it back truth be told .
Can you get a private prescription for this pill ? If you’re desperate for it and can afford it I would go down that route , not overlooking the fact that contraceptives are free but for my time and sanitys sake I’d pay .

Also not sure of the type of pill you need, but I get mine through Pharmacy2U, completely free, posted through the letterbox.

I appreciate yours might be a unique situation, but I think you’re just very unlucky, and it seems to be more about a GP lottery than anything else in some cases.

Well, this is what happens when non-clinical staff (the ones who do the admin and the management to keep things going properly) are called useless bureaucrats, bloated, flabby and all the other insults they get are jettisoned by the govt cos apparently they aren't needed.

If its been decided and initiated by a consultant then yes they do need a letter.
There's loads of 'pills' ... with different hormones and strengths.
They supposed to guess now as well as everything else?

That's just not true is it? Just hyperbolic nonsense

Sounds like a bad gp. You can be prescribed birth control
over the counter.

Shit was probably mild. In my experience its been absolutely abysmal

It saved my mum's life when she had cancer, my wife when she suffered a major haemorrhage during child birth, used her donated organs after she died to save multiple other people. And that's shit in your opinion? Frankly you can bugger off

I work for NHS and it is shocking. I work with unprofessional management lazy staff and I'm sick everyday to watch what is happening. I work in the office and words can't describe have bad it is.

I gave up a long time ago. Go private and you will life will get easier.

You are mistaking your experience for mine. And your language is inappropriate.

Sorry for your loss, @randomchap , and it's good to hear that your NHS experiences have been positive. That's how it should be for everyone. But can you not understand that healthcare is a lottery, and that many people will not have had the positive experiences you had? You only have to read the childbirth threads on here to be utterly appalled at the complete mismanagement and lack of empathy in some hospitals. It's completely unreasonable to tell someone to "bugger off" simply because their experience doesn't match yours..

You started with the bad language, and you said it has always been shit.

Your experience may have been terrible but to accuse the whole service of being shit is an absolute nonsense.

Can it be improved? Absolutely. Has it always been shit? Definitely not

As a pp suggested you just need to speak to the consultants secretary and get letters and oprescription sent by email and digitally. I can't remember the last time time I had anything by paper. Once you have everything digitally you can choose where you go and how to access the medication you need.