Prescription change by GP

Status
Not open for further replies.
Flower

Flower

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
My Contour glucose strips have been removed again without any conversation by my surgery and replaced by 4Sure, I don't have a 4Sure glucose meter. My Contour meter sends my glucose readings to my pump & as I'm partially sighted it helps me without having to squint at results with 3 pairs of specs and enter a value. This has happened 3 times now and each time I ask for my Contour strips to be put back being told insulin pumps users shouldn't have been changed. I'll try again after the holiday. My strips have been reduced down to 100 for 3 months which although I don't use many anymore I have to calibrate my sensor at least twice a day plus extra strips when I'm ill or the sensor results are haywire.

The thing that amused me was the optimistic prescription for 100 4Sure lancets every 3 months, I seriously doubt I have used 100 lancets in the whole of my 44 year T1 career, I'm currently using a box from 2014.
 
How annoying! Hope you get it sorted quickly. Lancets get changed with the seasons here!
 
Really sorry to hear this @Flower For it to happen the first time is a bit frustrating, a second time is very frustrating, but a third time is downright annoying! Hope you get it rectified early next week. Do you have the "System Online" ordering at your surgery, where you can order your medication online and send a custom request if there is a problem. I find this system works well at my GP surgery.
 
It’s a bit tedious having to ring/go in and explain it over again.

I use Systm Online which is where I noticed the changes when I went to order insulin etc just now. If they’re going to swap everything then maybe also provide a meter to go with the strips! I’ve written a custom request to have the strips back but my previous requests online didn’t change anything.
 
Flower said:
It’s a bit tedious having to ring/go in and explain it over again.

I use Systm Online which is where I noticed the changes when I went to order insulin etc just now. If they’re going to swap everything then maybe also provide a meter to go with the strips! I’ve written a custom request to have the strips back but my previous requests online didn’t change anything.
Click to expand...
Did you do the custom request at the same time as ordering normal repeat items? Apparently if you do both at the same time they don't see the custom request, so you have to order whatever normal items you want and send the reqquest and then click on "return to medication" once it confirms your initial requests and then make the custom request separately and then send and get a confirmation of that.
This may be why it wasn't resolved last time you tried it through that option. Good luck getting them reinstated pronto. I really don't think you should give them the option of supplying you with the 4Sure meter when your Contour connects to your pump and sends the readings to it and your sight is limited making manual input so much more difficult.
 
rebrascora said:
Did you do the custom request at the same time as ordering normal repeat items? Apparently if you do both at the same time they don't see the custom request, so you have to order whatever normal items you want and send the reqquest and then click on "return to medication" once it confirms your initial requests and then make the custom request separately and then send and get a confirmation of that.
This may be why it wasn't resolved last time you tried it through that option. Good luck getting them reinstated pronto. I really don't think you should give them the option of supplying you with the 4Sure meter when your Contour connects to your pump and sends the readings to it and your sight is limited making manual input so much more difficult.
Click to expand...
I didn’t realise that! I added the custom request for my normal strips after selecting what I needed from my repeat medication. Thanks @rebrascora i will go online & send a separate request.
 
Flower said:
It’s a bit tedious having to ring/go in and explain it over again.

I use Systm Online which is where I noticed the changes when I went to order insulin etc just now. If they’re going to swap everything then maybe also provide a meter to go with the strips! I’ve written a custom request to have the strips back but my previous requests online didn’t change anything.
Click to expand...

Hello,

Had you recently had a medication review that preceded this? (Change.)

Sounds like a communication issue (at your surgery.) that is a serious pain in the “A&E” for the patient.
 
Satan’s little helper said:
Hello,

Had you recently had a medication review that preceded this? (Change.)

Sounds like a communication issue (at your surgery.) that is a serious pain in the “A&E” for the patient.
Click to expand...
I’ve not had a recent medication review, my last one was a year back when my GP agreed for everything to stay as it was.

Managing diabetes is a big enough pain without extra unwanted housekeeping & sorting out of prescriptions & supplies. Ah well I’ll try to sort it next week and get back to where I was.
 
Flower said:
I didn’t realise that! I added the custom request for my normal strips after selecting what I needed from my repeat medication. Thanks @rebrascora i will go online & send a separate request.
Click to expand...
It seems to be a bad computer program. I thought it was just a glitch with our surgery, but I made this comment on another thread here today and someone else said the system has the same problem for them. I didn't find out about it until I ordered something for my partner and a custom as well and when he went to collect them there was no record of the custom request and that was when they told him that if you put both on the same request, they can't see it. Since then I always make a separate custom request and that goes through smoothly every time.
This other person suggested that neither the normal repeat medication request or the custom goes through if you do them both together, but I am pretty sure when I did it, they got the normal repeat but not the custom..... that was a few years ago now and I have not tested the system since. The program should be amended so that you can't make a "custom request" once you select an item from your repeat prescription list. You would have thought it would be a simple fix, but I guess because it causes the patient frustration but not necessarily the program customer ie the surgery, they don't report the issue or make a fuss.
Let us know how you get on. Fingers crossed you are successful.
 
rebrascora said:
It seems to be a bad computer program. I thought it was just a glitch with our surgery, but I made this comment on another thread here today and someone else said the system has the same problem for them. I didn't find out about it until I ordered something for my partner and a custom as well and when he went to collect them there was no record of the custom request and that was when they told him that if you put both on the same request, they can't see it. Since then I always make a separate custom request and that goes through smoothly every time.
This other person suggested that neither the normal repeat medication request or the custom goes through if you do them both together, but I am pretty sure when I did it, they got the normal repeat but not the custom..... that was a few years ago now and I have not tested the system since. The program should be amended so that you can't make a "custom request" once you select an item from your repeat prescription list. You would have thought it would be a simple fix, but I guess because it causes the patient frustration but not necessarily the program customer ie the surgery, they don't report the issue or make a fuss.
Let us know how you get on. Fingers crossed you are successful.
Click to expand...
Our surgery has added a note to the page to say custom requests need to be submitted separately - users of systm online anywhere need to be aware!
 
Flower said:
I’ve not had a recent medication review, my last one was a year back when my GP agreed for everything to stay as it was.

Managing diabetes is a big enough pain without extra unwanted housekeeping & sorting out of prescriptions & supplies. Ah well I’ll try to sort it next week and get back to where I was.
Click to expand...


I feel your pain. Clarify. How long was this “year back?” Approximation.?

From what I can gather from what you were saying in your OP, sounds like a “decision”:was made on your previous, before last? It’s been recently rectified. “However.”

I had this with Libres on prescription. Endo turned me down the first year. Then gave the thumbs up the following year. When I enquired at my surgery with a recent “CC’d” copy of the letter infront of me. It turned out the GP had a copy of the previous year in front of him? It made me sound like a liar.Then Wadda you know. They were available on my script a few days later. Miscommunication. (Or in my case, reading old news.)
 
rebrascora said:
Did you do the custom request at the same time as ordering normal repeat items? Apparently if you do both at the same time they don't see the custom request, so you have to order whatever normal items you want and send the reqquest and then click on "return to medication" once it confirms your initial requests and then make the custom request separately and then send and get a confirmation of that.
Click to expand...
This is such useful information. I had not realised this and it could explain why some messages have been missed. Thanks @rebrascora

I hope you get things sorted @Flower . As you say there is enough to deal with, without having to correct these glitches.
 
I’ve also noticed on ours that if you add notes next to the repeat items you are ordering, they don’t seem to see those either. E.g. i keep trying to tell them that we don’t need 4 boxes of strips at a time any more, just 1 at a time would do as we use so few, but either they remove them altogether without our consent or still give us 4 at a time. So I always have to open them in the chemist’s and give them the extra ones straight back so that someone else can have them!

They even took Lantus off us the last time they did a review! But I managed to get that added back again with a quick note to the doctor. Agreed we never use it but still have to have some just in case…
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top