Is this the norm now re GPs/prescriptions

[Nosejobnelly]

I’m on medication which I take 2 x a day. I’m under consultant care but the prescription is managed by the GP and should be able to request repeats using the NHS App.

Was going to request on Monday as I meds run out today. Looked at the App and it said I could t request at that time.

My GP’s prescription line is only open for one hour a day, so in Tues I call them - I have to do a pointless e-consult and get an automated email to say I’ll hear back by 6.30om on Weds - maybe the Dr will send a text to say it’s been sent to the pharmacy or wants to discuss an aspect of my meds.

No contact from GP at all so I call yesterday morning. I’m getting a bit concerned now but Receptionist says the request is with the Dr and I should get a text that afternoon or today. Nope!

Now I’m getting really worried so I pop in to pharmacy in my way out this afternoon. Wasn’t on my way but no issue, left more time to get to my destination- speak to the pharmacist- she said my surgery takes 5 days to process a prescription (although Receptionist said 3). Thankfully she took pity on me and issued me an emergency prescription for 4 days, so I’m covered. I even told the Receptionist I run out today so as far as they know i didn’t get my meds in time.

I have been thinking of changing surgeries for a while but idk if that more hassle! My DD changed to the possible new one from her old uni GP and it seems to be taking ages to go through (ironically she requested her meds this morning from her old uni GP as she’s still registered there and they’re ready to collect already!).

If I was old/infirm/working somewhere I couldn’t make/receive calls easily I wouldn’t be able to be so proactive. What do people do in these situations?

Mine are great, sorry. Order via app, get notification. Pick up anytime via a kind of vending machine thing.

My surgery gives access on TPP SystmOnline or AirMid.

I routinely use Systm as that was the first app that they provided and because requesting repeat prescriptions are easily picked from a list - AirMid has some extra reports and charts for looking at result histories etc

(I also collect for a couple of others who use SystmOnline)

Between us when making a request it either estimates the available date as 3 days or one week depending on which of our surgeries they are. But both surgeries authorise on the first working day, and if urgent depending on exact timings the pharmacy can often dispense the same day as long as the batch processing of the NHS system shows up
I’ll typically aim for 2 days

The app shows the “cannot order before” date if applicable, or may show that a review is required
On occasion the medicine has disappeared from the list (this has happened for my mother a few times on one of hers as it’s taken when needed, and she may not need to re-request for some time - this then needs a message sent for the doctor to review and relist the item

If medicine is listed and takes time to be signed off then that will be the surgery process / workload
If not selectable without a reason then I’d recommend contacting them to ask (but from the look of it you may have a difficult surgery)

As Pharmacy4U has been mentioned, I used to use those myself for convenience instead of collecting. But I had a bad experience that after signing off from the GP the medicine just showed as pending from Pharmacy4U awaiting restock … in a couple of days, which kept on waiting. When calling I was “reassured” that it was about to be in stock … and then again just kept waiting. I ran out and had to get them to reject the prescription, get it represcribed manually and walk around all the local pharmacies - at one the pharmacist knew the real problem that the particular brand had a manufacturing problem and recommended the equivalent (which needed represcribing from the GP)
Needless to say I changed pharmacy to the one who knew what they were doing

A few months later I was called by the surgery to ask if I really need more because I had recently ordered and collected but Pharmacy4U had decided to submit a request on my behalf

Use online / postage pharmacies if it works for you but consider if it could ever be an issue to be on the end of a website and help desk to resolve an issue

I request 14 days before I run out, 24 hours (except weekend to approve) 5 days to collect although via the gp app. I have two controlled drugs both the nhs gives you 28 pills for one a day per month - a month is not 28 days but at least 30. My GP gets around this by every August order me x2 months so I always have a month in hand and won’t run out. I have to remember to ask for x2 months in August but she then prescribes it and it works for the year! It’s life long and only going to increase as a dose so it’s not going to be wasted. She does the same with hrt I need x3 pumps per day and I wasn’t quite right with the repeats (running out before next ones due) so she ordered me x6 pumps rather than x3 the next time and said always keep one in reserve.

Not a repeat prescription, but I was prescribed some medication that I needed to start urgently. Went to the ASDA pharmacy that I have down as my local and was told that it would take 3 days to be done as it was not antibiotics. I double checked with 3 different people and this is their policy now.

Ended up in hospital the next day, but never mind.

I have used RXLive for quite a few years. They do all the ordering and the meds are delivered by Royal Mail. I don't pay as my prescriptions are free due to age. The keep me informed of progress with the ordering via email.

We have a fantastic GP and pharmacy. Our regular stuff arrives at the pharmacy ready to collect automatically. My daughter needed a change in her anticonvulsants. Epilepsy nurse contacted the GP yesterday, they rang us today and told us it was ready to collect at the pharmacy. Such a good practice. I’m very lucky, my last two surgeries were very good as well.

I apply for repeat prescriptions via the nhs app on the prescription section, same at all three surgeries I’ve used. You can apply 2 weeks before it’s due

i am on a lot of medications,i use the nhs app order a good 8 or 9 days before i run out, its usually oked by gp by next day at latest, delivered from chemist to me home next day or at worst 1 day later, i think you have to just get organised order early

I've had a similar issue @Nosejobnelly, where one of my repeat medications doesn't appear on the list for me to tick to add to my prescription request. I'm on 9 different types of meds (which they won't give me more than 28 days worth for some of) and if the "system" decides you've ordered something too recently, so can't possibly need more, it will simply vanish from your list of medications! It's particularly annoying as they won't align my prescriptions, so I can order and collect a months worth of everything at the same time, as the prescriptions all started at different times, so I have to keep on top of things very closely.

One thing I've done which has worked in the past is to order one of something that is available on my repeat list, then in the "notes" field, add something saying "My such and such medication seems to have vanished from the list, please could you add them to this prescription?" and it's always been picked up and sorted.

I used to email the surgery for all my repeat requests, and I'd get a confirmation of receipt email, but nothing to say if/when it had been signed by the GP, or sent to the pharmacy, let alone when to collect it! I do find the NHS app works pretty well for me, if I request repeat meds I can check to see if it's been signed off by the GP (usually within 24 hours during the week), and I get a text from the pharmacy when it's ready to collect (usually within 48 hours of requesting).

I would definitely feedback to the surgery about the issues you're having OP, and see if they will either give you more medication on each repeat, or find a way to stop things disappearing from the repeat list - it has to be signed off by the GP anyway, so it's not like you're going to end up with 7000 tablets in one go!

I just go in to gp reception now and fill in the slip and put it in their prescription request box, I can't be arsed with phoning or online any more.

I just order mine on the NHS app and they are with the pharmacy within 2 days. I have never noticed a date when I can request them, but its always a few days before I run out anyway.

@Nosejobnelly does your GP have their own repeat prescription link via their website such as systm online? I had this recently when I tried to use the NHS app - it said I couldn’t order yet, I thought I must be trying to order too early. Tried again 3 weeks later, still the same but I knew I was close to running out. Used the link via the GP and bingo, no problem. No idea why.

Updated to say that I went in to the pharmacy on 27 Feb at around 3pm and the pharmacist gave me an emergency prescription. She said my surgery can take a week to process repeats, but the surgery told me 72 hours. I made the call, then econsult on the Tuesday so that would have been fine. In the end I called the GP again Tuesday morning as still hadn't had the text to say the prescription was at the pharmacy and the receptionist said it had just been sent. Obviously I am going to order a week in advance next time, but I never leave it to the day before.
No direct link from GP website to order, only NHS app. Can't order via phone, before this the receptionist would send a text thingy so I could order like that but this time she asked me to do an econsult. I swear they change things so often!
I've got to go in to pick up a sample pot soon so I will see if they sill have the postbox thing in reception as it's such a faff otherwise. I used to walk past the surgery all the time but I don't go in that direction so much anymore.

Just do it how your surgery requests that you do it and then you won't have a problem.

Hahaha

very funny

DH has done that and then the medication isn't there for collection - with no warning, they don't let you know - because it was 'too early' to order it.

This is particularly frustrating because a. they'll only give a month at a time despite best practice for his condition being three months, b. sometimes he has to double the dose so gets through them faster and c. if he doesn't take his medication he would most likely be dead within days/costing a shit load more being treated in hospital.

My medication (regulat items) gets delivered by the pharmacy every 4 weeks and I have to do an online telephone review every year. Sometimes with a GP and sometimes the practice pharmacist.

You can join somewhere like boots online and you just enter and click the stuff you want and they send request to GP and then send it to your house.

Once you're registered all your meds will be on the screen to just click on. The process does take about 5 days though due to royal mail.

But the pharmacy sends you reminders to reorder your meds before you run out.

The NHS in Scotland is so underfunded that there is no app.

Does it not say in the app when prescriptions have been approved? On mine it's under View and Manage Prescriptions --> Your Approved Prescriptions. It also shows the date it was approved so I just leave it a few days after that before I go to the pharmacy.

I live rurally and my GP have an on-site pharmacy. They have recently started to deliver so I don’t even have to order repeat prescriptions. Or drive to the surgery to collect twice a month. Automatically delivers repeat prescriptions. Fantastic service.

Mine is really simple, no forms. List of my medications a d i tick which i need, so much easier going in and doing a paper request
I do have a date i cant order before buts never after i run out. I can usually pick mine up next day.

i can order 2 weeks ahead on the nhs app any time day or night, it’s obviously something your surgery is doing

Why do surgeries make life so difficult for their patients ? I phone mine on a local number and get an appointment same day or when i want it. I want a prescription, i call, list what a need and pick it up from the chemist same day ! If my surgery can do it why won;t every surgery do it. Thirty years ago every surgery worked like that. Computers, Apps and ego's have made it unnecessarily difficult.

I skip the app and still use systmonline. There's a box where you can type prescription requests if you have an issue and the surgery will sort it. I request 2 weeks before I run out because there's a lot of things and it can take the pharmacy a while to deliver it. This works with mine and my mum's medication. I'm never switching to the NHS app 😂

I've said all this but I will say my mum's prescription food is the bane of my life and even the free text box does not solve it. Everything else works though.