My bloody doctor’s surgery can have one, with a smaller version delivered to Boots UK Ltd. Because of what seems to have been some infantile spat between them I turned up at the pharmacy this morning to find the drugs I need had not been prescribed. I wasn’t in an immediate crisis. I have just enough meds at home to get me past Jan 1st.
But next week is Christmas FFS ! All sorts of places (suregeries, pharmacies) are closed and families, including us, have travel plans. It’s bad enough that the doctors wouldn’t issue the scrip. But the fact that neither the surgery nor the pharmacy saw fit to give me a courtesy call just to let me know that they’d decided to screw me over was unforgiveable. I think I’ve banged enough heads together that I’ll get my tabs tomorrow lunchtime. But someone’s in for a very sharp word if I don’t.
I was collecting my Xmas hamper from the pharmacist yesterday as well. They and the doctors seem to have no real idea that their products are relied upon by their customers, and that running out could be extremely uncomfortable or indeed life threatening.
The guy in front of me was saying that he needed it urgently, and the pharmacy assistant was all “well it’s normally three working days, so that should be this time next week, although there may be extra delays because of the season”. In what way is that acceptable?
same here Louise went to collect her repeat of her Glaucoma eye drops, and they seemed completely confused by the fact she was collecting two packs rather than one.
It seems that there is a Christmas ‘bulge’ of work every year, presumably alongside a wish by at least some staff to take leave to prepare for the break. Boots’ response to this is not to hire extra staff (why should they - they’re a business so their statutory duty is to maximise profit, not go out of their way to make life easier for sick people ?). Instead they simply submit a great number of repeat prescription requests early in December, allowing them time to bag up the drugs during lulls at the counter but also dumping the work bulge onto the surgery. Surgeries kick back by refusing the prescription requests as ‘submitted too early’. They seem to do this without reading the scrip (mine included anti-hypertensives which really shouldn’t be missed), contacting the patient, or following things up if another more suitably-timed request doesn’t appear. Boots, it seems, don’t resubmit the request (What ?!) and when the patient shows up simply say “There’s nothing we can do. The surgery decides whether to write it or not. You’ll have to take it up with them.”. If I was being cynical I might suspect Boots of doing this deliberately so the surgery gets a stream of irate patients at reception and has to run about in the 48 hours before the Xmas shutdown trying to clean up the mess. Some heads need banging together.
Interesting that Boots submit your scrip - I use Patient Access, an app on my phone that allows me to order the scrip from the doctor, and I can also see whether it has been processed yet. It then goes automatically to the pharmacy next door. Could be with checking if your surgery has similar?
My surgery certainly does have that feature. But if I can get Boots to do the work then why shouldn’t I ? When I pick the drugs up I simply tell them what I’ll need next time and let them do the ordering.
Another complication is that I know the relationship between my local surgery and Boots is not great. I happened to be at the back of a longish queue for reception once when a woman from Boots turned up to collect that day’s prescriptions (this must have been before they were sent electronically, which is how it works now I think). The heap of scrips had already been sorted and just needed to be slid under the glass - the work of no more than a second or two. But the receptionists face-palmed the Boots lady for all the time that I was there (maybe 10 minutes ?) just, it seemed, to be difficult. The surgery rents out part of its ground floor space to Lloyds pharmacy. Presumably they’d prefer patients to use them so that they can charge Lloyds more rent on the basis of greater footfall. If things go wrong at the town’s other pharmacies then maybe that doesn’t do the surgery’s profits any harm ?
Louise uses the Boots system as well for all her medications and they regularly “forget” to submit the request,
Even more laughable was the recent shenanigans with her contraceptive pills - she goes to see the nurse as usual, who says no you now need to see the doctor, who says see the nurse. Doctor also says you can have those on repeat, nurse says she can’t, doctor overrules nurse. Boots request the scrip, surgery wont issue it since there is no note on file that this can be had on repeat…and so on…until Louise gets the doctor and nurse in the same room together, and witnesses the doctor issuing the scrip to Boots - it was like watching Laurel and Hardy run the GP’s surgery.
With the Glaucoma eyedrops her consultant has told the GP to issue 6 months supply on scrip, but the GP refuses to do any more than 3 months on a repeat. It is a continuous and ongoing battle,
Boots, (or any bloody pharmacy) require a kick to the bollocks monthly. I would say on repeat prescription, but that is pointless, as it just would not happen. Every month something is missing, nor currently available, or temporarily our of stock. I thought the idea of a repeat prescription service was to take the hassle and stress out of it for the patient. They are in general terms a bunch of useless bastards, with absolutely no idea of how a joined up system works. On average it takes 3 visits a month, usually spread over several days just to collect a standing monthly prescription. Stick a public/bank holiday into the mix and you may just as well feck off somewhere to die.
Hmm, I control my own because my dosage is often changed, but also I have 12 items on repeat prescription, so their chances of getting them all right are probably low!
I much prefer the idea of ordering it myself, that guarantees I only get what I need. Seems to be the winning solution given the issues you guys are having.
Yeah I hate that. I pay my car tax by DD, why can’t they just add on any tolls? That would be an automatic system. Instead they just have “fucking annoying”
Fuck right off with your “Sandy/Strawberry blonde” hair uber denial.
Hope all shearing implements were treated in an autoclave following yer haircut & that the barbist apologised to any normal customers innocently going about their day.
