Repeat prescription frustration!

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falcon123

falcon123

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
A few weeks ago someone told me the local pharmacy was having trebled with some prescriptions because of the cold snap. I popped in to check and was assured all was OK. Two days later I sorted out the issue of not being allowed more insulin until I had seen a GP and dropped in the repeat. Nearly two weeks later I am still minus one item ? disposable syringes. I rang them again yesterday and the assistant said they had been ordered and will be in tomorrow. Great I thought as I only have ten days supply left. The she added ?Hopefully!?. This is really annoying as I get the same repeat every 50 days. Whilst I accept they may not be able to dispense the prescription the same day as they seem to hold low stock levels of items like strips I find this particularly frustrating as I had been told not to horde supplies in the past. I will start again! It also makes me feel like asking for a prescription per item so I can go between pharmacies. And to add insult to injury I have been advised that I have to see a GP before I can have a repeat prescription for syringes. Maybe I have been cured and not told!
 
A few weeks ago someone told me the local pharmacy was having trouble with some prescriptions because of the cold snap.

Spellcheck struck again!
 
ooooOoO for goodness sake it aint rocket science is it these people make it seem like it is, what we are entitled to dont seem to matter dont they know how important a role they play in getting us our prescriptions when they say they will and how wrong it is when they dont have it , we have enough to deal with with our diabetes without something you would think would be quite easy to get done but it is just aint and they seem to be systematiclly failing us all over the u.k.I hope it is there tomorrow falcon come on and let us know.
 
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I've never understood why K is always retricted things like 2 x 50 test strips. With someting as unperishable as a test strip, I've always thought just give her hundreds of them, she's only going to be using them for the rest of her life!

I hope you get what you need soon Falcon.

DP 😎
 
DiabetesPartner said:
I've never understood why K is always retricted things like 2 x 50 test strips. With someting as unperishable as a test strip, I've always thought just give her hundreds of them, she's only going to be using them for the rest of her life!

I hope you get what you need soon Falcon.

DP 😎
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Spot on DP, i get 50 a month ill never forget the time perish the thought but i needed more then 50 and went back the same month to get more only to be told oh you will have to ring the doctors and speak to your gp we did not think you would get through your strips so quick and we dont want to give you another pot without him knowing.That made me mad
 
falcon123 said:
... And to add insult to injury I have been advised that I have to see a GP before I can have a repeat prescription for syringes. Maybe I have been cured and not told!
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You didn't recently renew your prescription exemption certificate and tick 'no' fr the question 'do you still have the condition that entitles you...', did you?😱

Hope they come up wit the goods - it's all well and good having the insulin, but if you don't have the means to deliver it then it's pretty useless!
 
I hope the pharmacies concerned never get anything wrong with them where they need certain things on a very regular basis. Hope it all gets sorted...
 
Hi Falcon,

Poor you, I know how annoyed that must make you as the same happened to me just before christmas. I was so angry, I was told the supplies were not in, "stuck in Kent" actually and that was that. No alternative--- no explanation of what I could do! Completely frustrating.

I am actually going to a different pharmacy this time round which i anticipate will be this time next week. I might be cutting of my nose to spite my face, but I need to have a different experience to compare it to.

I would hoard some supplies definately Falcon, I cant think of any other way forward...?

To need to see the doctor before you get your syringes is probably a trick- my GP service do exactly the same. I am managed at the local hospital, but I get my precriptions from the pharmacy. My GP doesnt get the IOS claim for my HbA1c or other "hits" as I get evrything done elsewhere and I get the occassional request to see the doctor. Believe it or not, in December they wanted my waist measurement!!! My prescription was delayed for it. What on earth do they need my waist measurement for??!

Hope you get it sorted Falcon x
 
Sugarbum said:
Hi Falcon,

Believe it or not, in December they wanted my waist measurement!!! My prescription was delayed for it. What on earth do they need my waist measurement for??!

Hope you get it sorted Falcon x
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Apparently waist measurement is the latest guide to health. Apparently in men 36" is the max. The DSN told me I was overweight with a BMI under 25 because my beer gut takes my waist to 37". I suggested it was in proportion as I am 6' 2". If I was 5' 2" then I would be a teletubby! Not sure what the measurement is for women.
 
It does seem that there is an obsession with waist measurement in this country.
Once size fits all as far as the medics are concerned and not taking into account your height and overall build.
 
I'm so lucky with my pharmacy - to the point where we moved house last year but I still use the pharmacy near my old house as it was SO good 😱 The pharmacist will advance me stuff on repeat, so long as the repeat has gone/is going in (they take it to the GP and pick it up again for me).

Also, my DSN said that if I'm ever short of test strips to call the Diabetes Centre at the hospital as they have a small stock that they will give out. In fact she said "that's what we're here for!".

If you're desperate for syringes, I've got some 1ml ones knocking around that I don't use - mind you, if I sent them in the post I'd probably be breaking the law...:D🙄
 
Yes it is frustrating regarding the waist measurement thing. I was more irritated by the system, why is there a nurse wasting (no pun intended) their time taking measurements of something they dont do anything about. Its ike when I get notes sent to me about my blood pressure and (as a nurse) I often check my own at work, but Im "not allowed" to phone it through...I have to go in and wait to have it checked. Shoot me, I cant bear it.

Before I go off on a tangent, I love what you have written Cate! I wouldnt take the chance of sending syringes either with that thought!

I am lucky to have access to several pharmacies on my block and the decision is made already. Next week its time to see what others are made off. I have complained enough!

Falcon, when my insulin pump broke and was (stupidly) in another town without my supplies I bought a pack of 10 BD insulin syringes for ?1.64 at Lloyds Pharmacy (with proof I was a "legit" diabetic of course!). I dont know where you live but if the same happens again maybe if you turned up at another pharmacy you could buy emergency supplies?
 
I'm going to try a new pharmacy next time even if it does mean a 40 minute walk - I'd rather that than a 40 minute wait in an incokmpetent pharmacy!
 
Northerner said:
I'm going to try a new pharmacy next time even if it does mean a 40 minute walk - I'd rather that than a 40 minute wait in an incokmpetent pharmacy!
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Its such better 'peace of mind' to have a 40 minute walk than know you wasted 40 mins standing in pharmacy waiting 🙂

It makes so much sense to try other places, I dont know why I didnt have the courage to before. I find things with diabetes have become so ritualistic it is hard to deviate.

Perhaps we should make February "trying a new pharmacy" month! 🙂
 
Peter C said:
Cos "some" people are getting them free on prescription and selling them on ebay.
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I thought this was a historical problem in obtaining our supplies though, way before ebay came about? But I could be wrong 🙂
 
Peter C said:
Cos "some" people are getting them free on prescription and selling them on ebay.
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This does bother me - perhaps there should be a spotcheck on meters occasionally to see that they are being used as much as your prescription suggests. I wonder if anyone at the NHS has ever investigated ebay sales to find the scale of the problem (or even trace the sellers).
 
Paranoid moi?

Coz we wouldn't want to give out syringes to drug abusers. Sorry, i know you know you're a honest diabetic, but not everybody as scrupilous as you. Some people will manipulate the system for their own gains and it back fires on all the honest people who have a genuine need.
I'm up to my eyes in 50ml syringes at the mo, but i think that if i gave em to you i'd get the sack. I like you guys, but not that much.:D Also i'm thinking 50mls is a bit big...

I'm sorry, but we don't have enough room to store huge ammounts of drugs or test strips. If we could supply every diabetic with 6 months worth of strips all the time, we'd have to give everybody with a long term illness six months worth of drugs and as i've said before, nobody has a pharmacy the size of a football stadium.

We have to legally only dispense what your doctor has prescribed for you. If your doctor has written you up for a one month repeat you can only have one month at a time. Yup, it's annoying but it's the law.

I'm sure your pharmacies arn't screwing up on purpose. Some of the staff do understand that you've got a long term illness that isn't going to go away. Some of the staff are diabetic....trust me.....an they will be just as frustrated as you when their meds go missing. On the other hand, you can always go to another pharmacy if your local has terrible service, especially if it's consistantly bad. You could always complain to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, they have a complaint form on thier webpage (btw i'll cry if anybody mentions Northampton General Hospital Pharmacy:()

Sorry, i'm feeling a bit self concious tonight, ignore me if i'm getting snippy.

Rachel
 
Hi Rachel, I think it's great that we have you to give us perspective and (dare I say it) balance! My gripes have been not that I expect everything to be randomly in stock, but that promises are only made that can be kept. If it was going to take 2 weeks to get me some strips, tell me and I'm happy to submit my request appropriately. It's when I get told things that are consistently wrong, without explanation or apology that it gets my goat (thankfully not a prescribed goat).😉
 
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