My GP surgery won't supply a drug

[Stephanietee]

Hope someone can give me an idea how to approach this problem. I have been prescribed some eye drops by my local EyeClinic which the GP says I have to get from the hospital. There is no way I can do this as I can't drive and the hospital is an hour's drive away and I have no one to go running about every month to get this stuff for me. Has anyone any idea where I can go to get the Surgery to change their mind, and why are they refusing it to me anyway? I don't cost them as much as some people do.

Stephanietee

[10gingercats]

I have not had this experience but you could try telephoning the department,or the medical person who prescribed the drops and explain as you have down here.Or, you could contact your Clinical Commissioning group which replaced the Primary Care Trust for their advice.Or The Patients Association.This sounds awful and unprofessional and I hope you can get it resolved quickly.

[Hidden]

Hi

I have had eye drops perscribed for me and the eye clinic supplied them

[BobD Volunteer]

There are some drugs which can only be prescribed at consultant level. I wonder if this is the case here in which case you need to discuss with the clinic who originally prescribed them?

[wendicarro]

Hi,

This happened to my mother in law recently and I had to speak with the consultants secretary who faxed a copy of the medication to her GP surgery.

Hope you get it sorted,

Wendi

[CDreamer]

But it could also be that your GP is protecting you.

I had a similar experience about steroid eye drops which my Eye Care Professional recommended but my GP wouldn't prescribe - even though he wrote an excellent letter explaining why and with a clear diagnosis - which she couldn't give. There was a very good clinical reason why she wouldn't prescribe which she explained and she told me I would have to go see a Consultant at the hospital to get them to write to her and THEN she could prescribe. As the waiting list for that was months - I went with the eye drops I got in Spain for exactly the same condition, prescribed by ER doctor and cost me 1 Euro.

There are some conditions which can only be prescribed by Secondary Specialist Care, not Primary Care. It may not be just about cost.

Was your EyeClinic NHS Specialist Unit? If so I would give them a ring and talk to them and see what they advise.

If it was a 3rd Party clinic and I think you may have to go through the procedure above.

[Hidden]

When I had to inject Methetrexate at home weekly I had to get it from the hospital . This was for RA. I don't drive so I had to pay £5 a week for a taxi to deliver it. They had a licence to pick up from the hospital pharmacy. I couldn't get it from my doctors. Very annoying.

[Annekw in reply to Hidden]

Hi 200444 ,are you in U.K.?

I have recently started Methotrexate injections,first 4 weeks supply was from hospital, after that it's on my prescription from the surgery!

[Hidden in reply to Annekw]

I am not using Methotrexate now. Last year they started delivering it from Newcastle to my home in packs of six I think. Are you keeping better on it ? It worked well for me though it took a while. Kate.

[Annekw in reply to Hidden]

Hi Kate ,I've just had six doses ,I'm not sure at the moment, I've had good weeks and bad,I'll try it a bit longer! Anne

[Hidden in reply to Annekw]

Good luck Anne.

[caos52 in reply to Hidden]

Any reason why you couldn't take the tablets, is injection your choice or gp? just wondered what the difference would be as I take the tablets and never got any other option.

[Hidden in reply to caos52]

I was on tablets. After about a year they said injections would be better as I have Coeliac. A lot of people are given it that don't have Coeliac as it often works better for some .

[Barb1]

Let your local CCG know and ask their opinion

[Stephanietee]

Thank you everyone for your helpful replies

Stephanietee

[philologus]

Our local Pharmacy has a system ( a form to complete) where you can arrange for repeat prescriptions to be automatically sent to them and they can then deliver to the patient.

It might be worth having a chat with your Pharmacist.

[JayDW]

My husband has just had a similar problem. He was seen at the hospital eye clinic & given a prescription for drops. We took this to our local pharmacist, but as it was a hospital prescription it had to be taken to the hospital branch of Lloyds chemist, so we had to drive all the way back.

However, future repeat prescriptions will be obtained from the GP surgery, so there should not be an on-going problem. I hope this also applies to you.

Good luck.

[lucillear]

I had a similar situation with preservative free eye drops prescribed for blepharitis by the eye hospital as I had a really nasty reaction to normal ones. My surgery said they could not prescribe them and when I asked. My regular pharmacy why they said probably because of the cost. I wrote a stern but reasoned letter to the practice copying in the specialist and low and behold I now get them on repeat

[MazzyB]

Isn't there a way that the hospital can send the prescription to a local pharmacy I get eye drops from my doctor, very strange