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Prescriptions stopping

Tdm

Tdm

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Pronouns
She/Her
They've done it again. This time my prescriptions have all disappeared from my nhs app.

Trying to deal with it with a bit more composure than normal. Hate to think how it must be for people with anxiety, or who can't remember the name of their meds etc.

Each time they do it a bit differently too and are never really clear what needs to be done to put them back. And some need to be back on there in case i need them, eg novopen, ketone strips.

Especially galling as they do not control my meds anyway...they are controlled by the consultant at hospital (except the statin)

I hope i don't have to go down and have another tedious discussion with them again
 
Ugh! Sorry you are having to jump through these unnecessary hoops @Tdm

Does your surgery have an annual ‘prescription review’ thing? Is there a practice pharmacist? I have to get mine reviewed each year (presumably just in case I get miraculously cured?!) or they start getting a bit jippy about issuing repeats.

And yes the disappearance of the occasional items is a familiar thing. Some of them (eg backup supplies in case of pump failure) I only need to replace when they expire, and they’ve always disappeared by then.

This time I’m just going to add it to the repeat request at the bottom, and cross my fingers!
 
Sorry to hear this hope u get it sorted fast
 
I too have had that conversation with the prescribing pharmacist at my surgery.
After deciding it happened too often, I wrote to the surgery manager asking them what process they had in place to avoid someone with diabetes being unable to order a drug we require to live. A new process was introduced and it has not happened since.
 
Tdm said:
This time my prescriptions have all disappeared from my nhs app.
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My surgery claimed they couldn't stop that from happening and have just changed to a different online service now (presumably one that doesn't have this problem). I suspect it's some combination of the software the GP practice uses and the NHS app software.

It's annoying whatever the cause. It really shouldn't be impossible for the software providers to realise that there are some drugs that patients might need forever, until the GP and patient decide it needs changing for some reason.
 
If they were just clear about what was needed to sort it out it would help.
We already have enough 'diabetes admin' in our lives without adding more.
Still, off work next week so have time to sort out.
 
I get this fairly often as the GP can only prescribe so many repeat prescriptions without a review being needed regardless of whether you're on them for life. I found some of the paperwork had numbers on which turned out to be the number of repeats before a review is needed. Generally this happens before they run out but sometimes not which means a call to the surgery who are able to issue a script for what I need. I do this through reception.

It is a bit annoying that they just disappear (on the NHS Wales app anyway) until they reappear but I have diary reminders for my prescriptions so I know what I'm missing. Generally its needles as I tend to use around 10 a day and the assumption seems to be most people use far fewer.

I did find a number of GP appointments in my records that I wasn't aware of and these turned out to be my prescription reviews. I did get all excited for a while thinking I'd found a way of getting appointments but was not to be.
 
Well, they seem to have renewed my diabetes stuff. But not my statin. Not sure why.
 
In the olden days of 10 years ago the medicine review was done with the GP. Then it started to be done by the GP without input from the patient. Now its done by the pharmacist. The review should cover all the medicines and the review date is usually shown online or on the repeat prescription form from the pharmacy when issuing the medicines. Not all GP surgeries use the same online system and I can only speak about my GP.
 
I've no problem with a review, just no sure why px have to be stopped to do a review i have no part of, over px tge gp doesn't control anyway.
I could see it if i needed to be involved, and i ignored them, and its a last ditch effort to get my attention.
 
Tdm said:
I've no problem with a review, just no sure why px have to be stopped to do a review i have no part of, over px tge gp doesn't control anyway.
I could see it if i needed to be involved, and i ignored them, and its a last ditch effort to get my attention.
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Sorry if I misled. I wasn't implying that you had a problem. This was more of a post for others to read. It is only as I've become more involved that I've realised the GPs, even within in one area, don't all follow the same procedures.
 
My daughter should be getting one today by phone, hope it goes well for her!
Our surgery used to show the number of repeats left on the prescriptions, and for a while they would magically reset when they got to 0 without us having to do anything. Sadly that doesn’t happen any more and occasionally we find that stuff has disappeared (one time it was Lantus!). Usually things we don’t ask for very often so sort of fair enough but I wish they would just ask first. As well as insulin now though, she’s on another drug which is dangerous to suddenly stop, if it’s decided that she doesn’t need it any more the dose will have to be reduced gradually. That’s the one they usually decide to refuse to let her have! I think there are people out there who just blindly get everything on their prescription every month and don’t necessarily use them all so a lot goes to waste, which we don’t want, but surely there’s a better way, clearly insulin will be needed, and she’s under hospital care for that anyway.
 
Sally71 said:
My daughter should be getting one today by phone, hope it goes well for her!
Our surgery used to show the number of repeats left on the prescriptions, and for a while they would magically reset when they got to 0 without us having to do anything. Sadly that doesn’t happen any more and occasionally we find that stuff has disappeared (one time it was Lantus!). Usually things we don’t ask for very often so sort of fair enough but I wish they would just ask first. As well as insulin now though, she’s on another drug which is dangerous to suddenly stop, if it’s decided that she doesn’t need it any more the dose will have to be reduced gradually. That’s the one they usually decide to refuse to let her have! I think there are people out there who just blindly get everything on their prescription every month and don’t necessarily use them all so a lot goes to waste, which we don’t want, but surely there’s a better way, clearly insulin will be needed, and she’s under hospital care for that anyway.
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It can happen the other way round and people don't ask for things they need because they don't understand when each of their medications are for or they can't afford all the items, a sad situation I know but not uncommon. Even when it is medications for an acute condition people ask the pharmacist if they really need them all when they are paying for their meds, nearly £10 per ITEM is massive to many people. I remember when it used to be a fixed amount per prescription regardless of the number of items
 
Sally71 said:
I think there are people out there who just blindly get everything on their prescription every month and don’t necessarily use them all so a lot goes to waste, which we don’t want, but surely there’s a better way, clearly insulin will be needed, and she’s under hospital care for that anyway.
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Sadly, I know someone like that.
Whenever we visit, he opens a cupboard and dishes out paracetamol he gets on his prescription and never takes and I am sure the NHS don't have the cheap version I usually get from the supermarket.
Ironically, he does have an annual review and complains whenever they remove anything.
 
JimG said:
Sorry if I misled. I wasn't implying that you had a problem. This was more of a post for others to read. It is only as I've become more involved that I've realised the GPs, even within in one area, don't all follow the same procedures.
Click to expand...
Your ok, my post wasn't in responce to yours, just tagging on ....
 
Personally it seems a totally flawed system to me, surely they should not be able to just stop medication without at least consulting a patient first! But from what I hear, (My wife used to work in NHS admin recently, up to a few years ago) the IT is broken all over the NHS. I assume it has not improved much in the last couple of years!
 
pjgtech said:
Personally it seems a totally flawed system to me, surely they should not be able to just stop medication without at least consulting a patient first! But from what I hear, (My wife used to work in NHS admin recently, up to a few years ago) the IT is broken all over the NHS. I assume it has not improved much in the last couple of years!
Click to expand...
It is a large organisation and I think part if the problem is that the various systems developed piecemeal and it is now difficult to merge them all. There is also, from what I understand from my various chats with people in the nhs, the fear of what might happen if they adopted a doomsday approach of a big switch over. Nevertheless, something needs to be done. Trying to coordinate between GP, Community Medicine and two hospitals in different trusts is not easy.
 
Tdm said:
Well, they seem to have renewed my diabetes stuff. But not my statin. Not sure why.
Click to expand...

Good to hear you’ve back in the game @Tdm

Now you just have to hope you don’t get a hard time for not taking your statin!
 
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