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Little pharmacy gripe

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Northerner

Northerner

Admin (Retired)
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Took my prescription in on Thursday last week, they only had half the items and told me they would be in Friday pm. I didn't go in on Friday, so have just been in this morning - they still don't have the items, grrrr! 😡 Told me they would be in by 11:30, but I'm hardly going to hang around for an hour and a half am I? Wouldn't mind so much, but one of the items was novorapid. She did ask if I had enough to be going on with (which I always do), but what exactly was she going to do if I said no? Am I going to get another wasted journey this afternoon?

I know it's only a little thing in the scheme of things but I hate wasted journeys!
 
Oh Alan been a while since we had a pharmacy gripe I know im lucky that im in walking distance of my pharmacy but still making 3 10 min trips a day down there is hardly convinient.I hope when you go back later that your items are all ready to pick up.
 
Would you consider phoning the pharmacy before setting out?
 
Steff said:
Oh Alan been a while since we had a pharmacy gripe I know im lucky that im in walking distance of my pharmacy but still making 3 10 min trips a day down there is hardly convinient.I hope when you go back later that your items are all ready to pick up.
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Thanks Steff, it's about a half hour round trip for me (not including the ten minute wait to be told they didn't have my stuff! 😡), which I wouldn't mind, but I do when I come back with nothing and it's been a complete waste of time!
 
Northerner said:
Thanks Steff, it's about a half hour round trip for me (not including the ten minute wait to be told they didn't have my stuff! 😡), which I wouldn't mind, but I do when I come back with nothing and it's been a complete waste of time!
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The thing that annoys me is when you need 3 boxes and you only get one and are told to come back for the rest.

its like tell me before hand and ill go to boots or somewhere else.

Half still isnt okay.
xx
 
PhoebeC said:
The thing that annoys me is when you need 3 boxes and you only get one and are told to come back for the rest.

its like tell me before hand and ill go to boots or somewhere else.

Half still isnt okay.
xx
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That's what happened to me basically - they gave me half my needles and strips last Thursday and said the rest would be in Friday afternoon, still no insulin Monday so they either gave mine to someone else or it never came in on Friday's delivery. They're not open on Saturday.
 
Do they do a delivery service Alan? I know some chemists do - and maybe they would offer to deliver if you asked them?

I used to use the pharmacy attached to the GP surgery but got so fed up of 'I will have to order this in for you and it will take 48 hours' I have moved to another neary chemist who always have everything immediately available.
I wonder if some chemists only order in as required for everything as they have very little on their shelves and it seems to be the same message to everyone who has a prescription.

What I can't understand is mine is the same prescription every month - so why can't they be proactive in some way and get the items in in advance?
 
lucy123 said:
Do they do a delivery service Alan? I know some chemists do - and maybe they would offer to deliver if you asked them?
...
What I can't understand is mine is the same prescription every month - so why can't they be proactive in some way and get the items in in advance?
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They do deliver, but I don't want to be sitting in waiting for them and the thing that is annoying me is that even though I gave them an extra day, it's not there.

I did try signing up for their repeat prescription service, the idea being that I would hand my repeat to the pharmacy, they would get it signed by the surgery (next door) and then make sure that all the items were ordered in and reay for me to collect three days later. It was worse than me just getting it authorised myself and just walking in with it - I found they still had stuff missing or didn't have it ready and I ended up waiting longer than people who were just walking in with theirs.

As I said, it's just a minor gripe - I know in some parts of the world I'd be overjoyed to have access to such service!
 
probably best i dont get started on the only remaining pharmacy here which recceives same order every two weeks for my supplies but never has them in.... surely at some point they should realise that if they just order more in as i am a regular with same stuff it would make everyones life easier not just mine
 
tomgallagher said:
Well it is a major gripe for you. Too bad you can't have the meds delivered with your mail.
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i dont think insulin would last in the mail? would it?
 
Must admit the pharmacy next to the surgery erm dreadful, on the 2nd time of them messing up and telling me to call back in the afternoon (14 mile round trip) I told them politely that the next time it happened I would would change pharmacy. I kept my word 😡

I use boots now and 99.9% of the time all is fine with them.

Service this morning was ACE, went in to see if prescription was ready, didn't expect it to be as I was a day early. Parmacist said Hi Sue it's just come won't be long.... Next thing my ruddy pump decided to do the dying swan on me.
One very quick witted pharmacist said I knew Sue was calling but Avon as well wow? :D
I was offered a room to sort it out as needed to disconnect the pump, cannula was on my thigh so had no intention of dropping my trousers in the shop to disconnect 😱
Once sorted the pharmacist wanted to know about the pump and how it worked and also what my quality of life was like compared to MDI.
 
It gets worse actually. I just went back to collect them, was halfway down the hill and realised I was a box of strips short still. So, had to go back up and then explain the rudimentary maths that: I needed 300 strips, was given 150 last Thursday and 100 now, so I was one box short. Seems they couldn't grasp this the first time, nor the second or third, but finally the penny dropped! 🙄 Sheesh!
 
Medusa said:
probably best i dont get started on the only remaining pharmacy here which recceives same order every two weeks for my supplies but never has them in.... surely at some point they should realise that if they just order more in as i am a regular with same stuff it would make everyones life easier not just mine
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If people are continuing to get bad service from their Pharmacy then there is a complaints procedure you can go through. I know people will say what's the point, but if these things aren't reported then nothing will get changed and it just carries on. You can get details on line or in the Pharmacy, some places need a little kick up the backside sometimes🙄 Sheena
 
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It sounds just like the fun I used to have when I used boots (I have used 2 different boots pharmacy's and they were both the same). I am thankful that because I have moved about quite a bit I found a lovely little pharmacy where I used to live. When we moved here I was going to use the closest pharmacy to me but they said that they only get delivery's once a month and it was just a couple of days past their delivery date and they hadn't any test strips so I took my business back to my old pharmacy.

I hope you get your strips sorted soon, I would be so annoyed having to keep going back and forth 🙂
 
its odd as i always thought a certain amount of intelligence was needed to work in a pharmacy, from what i can see, they have the pharmacist who has a degree etc so is a learned individual but then they have all those assistants and although some are i am sure completely brilliant i have found more often than not in the boots here they tend to not seem awake even and extrememly lacking in brain cells, also annoying for those who have some intelligence and cant get a job, but the amount of times i get the wrong medication in my prescription which i have concerns about on the safety level for others say older people who may not notice and take the wrong medicines
 
Do you live in the outer Hebrides or something? - once a MONTH?

Crikey, I regularly get flattened in my pharmacy as delivery drivers aren't about to wait politely in a queue! LOL If they haven't got it in the morning, it's there in the afternoon, whenever, it's half a day. So it's twice a day - but then of course they get specials delivered individually!
 
Northerner said:
Took my prescription in on Thursday last week, they only had half the items and told me they would be in Friday pm. I didn't go in on Friday, so have just been in this morning - they still don't have the items, grrrr! 😡 Told me they would be in by 11:30, but I'm hardly going to hang around for an hour and a half am I? Wouldn't mind so much, but one of the items was novorapid. She did ask if I had enough to be going on with (which I always do), but what exactly was she going to do if I said no? Am I going to get another wasted journey this afternoon?

I know it's only a little thing in the scheme of things but I hate wasted journeys!
Click to expand...

I had a little triumph at a Tesco Pharmacy today ( not my usual very reliable one).
Went to buy an extra pot of Aviva test strips like I do every three months or so.
Lady on the counter looked it up in the book and says "Oh dear, its ?27 a tub".
Well I know from previous experience that these books they work from seem to be split into Wholesale and Retail sections so I said to her, "What does it say in the Accuchek section at the front of the book ?" (i.e wholseale prices that the Pharmacy buys them for )
She found it and said "Ah, its only ?15.58 here".
Thanks I said, paid the 15 quid and legged it.
 
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mcdonagh47 said:
I had a little triumph at a Tesco Pharmacy today ( not my usual very reliable one).
Went to buy an extra pot of Aviva test strips like I do every three months or so.
Lady on the counter looked it up in the book and says "Oh dear, its ?27 a tub".
Well I know from previous experience that these books they work from seem to be split into Wholesale and Retail sections so I said to her, "What does it say in the Accuchek section at the front of the book ?" (i.e wholseale prices that the Pharmacy buys them for )
She found it and said "Ah, its only ?15.58 here".
Thanks I said, paid the 15 quid and legged it.
Click to expand...

Nice one - what a mark-up, though! 😱
 
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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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