Not strictly "on topic", but I was wondering if others here have been experiencing difficulty in getting their prescribed drugs? I'd heard of problems but had not experienced any until this month.
I have a regular prescription of 8 items for various fairly minor age-related ailments including Apixaban, Ramipril, etc. Last was issued 10 days ago, and I've managed to receive just two of them to date. Keep getting given new dates for when they'll have them available, and now very tight. The chemist is part the Medipharmacy group which has 25 branches under various names. They had been pretty reliable.
They say it's down to general shortages and import problems, but being 75% short seems somewhat excessive. I wondered how others here were fairing and, if so, how they've dealt with it?
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That sounds bad, ruffity… I wonder if that’s everywhere? I do hope you get yours without them cutting it too fine. I’d be stressed if my Apixaban especially was running low.
Personally I’ve found getting meds much more dicey and frustrating since our doctor switched to directly sending prescriptions to the one named pharmacy, as if they can’t get what I need, I can’t take the prescription round to all the other pharmacies til I find one with stock, like I used to. (I’ve asked the surgery, as I need particular brands due to allergies, but they won’t give me a physical prescription.)
I wonder if other pharmacies in your area might have what you need, or if they’re all running short. Be interesting to hear other people’s experiences. Jx
Yes. I have had a problem with one med.My doc. sends to my local Boots .I would also like to get a paper prescript. if possible but they are reluctant to do it.
If Boots cant get your medication, they can print out your script for you to take elsewhere. That's what they do for me. I then ring every pharmacist I have to in order to find what I need
Wow that’s very interesting to hear, CDreamer. My own Boots, who I’ve been with for decades, have refused to do that- they say they can’t once they’ve accepted it and tried to get the medication. I’ve had months of stress being sent back to the doctors surgery for replacement prescriptions , which they still insist in sending electronically, so the cycle starts again! (Maybe mine is a different thought because they can get a version of what I need, but not the brand written on the prescription. ) x
They won’t fill the prescription with an alternative brand. I’ve had this in the past and had to ask for a different prescription. Either that or wait for the pharmacy to be able to get hold of the meds
Jane I have the same problem. I have 9 items on my monthly prescription some of these are named brands because of bad reactions to some brands. This month chemist could not get the right brand of Nebivolol but I took the rest of the items because 2 of them I know none of the other chemists locally will supply me with. So I had to go back to the surgery (has happened many times before) and get a prescription for the Nebivolol. I contacted the surgery via email (takes too long via phone) and surgery pharmacy rang me back. He put the Nebivolol on the electronic system (called the Spine) and said all I had to do was ring and find chemist who had brand I wanted and just give my NHS number and they would dispense it, which I did and hubby collected it. This is the first time I have done it this way before I had to go in and collect from reception. This fiasco has been going on for over a year for me and I am on my 5th chemist, some have been okay for a while then they say they cannot supply a couple of the items (only the brands I cannot take) so I have worked my way through our local chemists, this includes Boots. Each month now I ring chemist a couple of days before prescription is due, check they have all of them. The last three months have been fine (they have at times had to order in for me). Before all the generic brands started to come to the market I had very few problems, now I dread each month my prescription becomes due. I have not had any problems with supplies of drugs just the right brands.
I feel for you, it’s so stressful isn’t it? The new system they told you to do using your nhs number and the pharmacist dispensing it from the Spine (great name!) is very interesting, not heard of that! I hope the shortages get sorted out soon for everyone. Jx
Jane the Spine is just the name for the electronic system so has been around for a while, all electronic prescriptions go on there. What I find annoying is that if you accept your prescription from the chemist and there is say one drug missing because they do not have it they cannot just leave it on the spine so that that you can find elsewhere and get it despensed but you have to go back to the surgery to get it sorted. I am not sure but giving just my NHS number to chemist is probably not a new way just that no one has bothered to tell me before. At least it saves one trip to surgery to collect a paper prescription.
I’ve experienced shortages of all sorts, both prescription medications and OTC. It’s been going on for a long time. The best thing to do is to ring around all the pharmacies in your area. Sometimes you get lucky.
Hi AL. In my case, the prescription went direct to the pharmacy and I got two of the eight items yesterday - none the ones I need most urgently. I assume I'd need to get another prescription from my GP to go elsewhere. So now I'm hoping something happens by Friday, despite previous assurances.
My wife also had a 2 item prescription issued when I did 10 days ago (after going into tachycardia a couple of months ago and having a high priority ablation). This afternoon, she finally got the Edoxaban and half the bisoprolol she needed. Every customer in the shop was there to complain about not getting their meds. Really difficult for the staff.
They seem to be in meltdown, and I'd have thought the proper approach would be to refuse prescriptions if they aren't in a position to obtain the items within a reasonable time.
Yes been having problems for months . I've been in a queue & witnessed many people waiting for meds like insulin,needles etc. Pharmacy often tells them to get a new prescription from GP for a different brand!! I have written to my MP approx 6 weeks ago & still no reply as yet. I suggest you contact yours too.
Yes I have experienced this and in the end had to contact my Cardiologist and he changed the drug. I have heard of others having problems too so it helps being aware. I even contacted the manufacturers of said drugs and they said there was difficulty at the manufacturing end and could not give any dates as to when or if these drugs would again be available. This is a poor situation to be in an doesn't auger well for the future!
I order mine through Lloyds on line service. They then usually just drop through the letter box a few days after. However, as there are 4 items on the script, if one is out of stock then the whole batch gets delayed but you can request they despatch without waiting. You can also request the return the script to the GP but it is all or nothing and there is no guarantee I’ll be able to get quicker locally. The service provides a reminder to order 2 weeks ahead though the GP will not usually authorise until 10 days before previous ones are due to run out.
Years ago they always had in stock and delays never a problem, but recently they have always been waiting for at least 1 med to be in stock, though it’s usually only delayed delivery a few days.
They have a massive distribution warehouse and big buying power and shorter supply chain than individual Chemists, so they should be in a good position. The fact they so often are short suggests they either run too tight a Just in Time system, or Manufaturing supply issues are widespread.
Over the years I’ve missed the odd dose so I’ve been able to build up a bit of a buffer and now have at least a fortnight’s reserve for each med, which provides me with some comfort and also helps when going on holiday.
yep....went to collect my dabigatran last month and only got half a months supply, chemist said come back in couple days as we may get some on next delivery........3 days later got the outstanding meds....asked chemist what the issue was and he just said "shortages in the system, dont worry". My next monthly is due next week ........lets see.
My pharmacy hasn't told me that there are shortages but I put in my repeat about ten days ago too and normally ready within 2 days but i am still short of a few things and have had to go up to the pharmacy three times to collect the various medications as they slowly come in. Like you I request my repeat in plenty of time but now I am getting quite tight on some of the medication now. I still have one pack of tablets to collect but thankfully it is not my apixaban.
Not just availability but also particular brand availability. As Jean and others have mentioned sticking to the brand you know is best, as fillers with other brands can cause problems.
I have had a couple of delays with my brand of Flecainide; as I have been taking Accord brand for 10yrs+ without any issues, I am loathe to change. Like Speed I have therefore built up a buffer stock, more by luck than good management, originally one month now two months and much more peace of mind 😁.
Being senior I sometimes forget and have at times tried to order the same pills again a few days later. Now I write on the pill packet the date they were re-ordered. Fortunately I don't think I've ever double dosed on anything.
This apparently is an ongoing production problem apparently exacerbated by the pandemic. A lot of drugs are produced in India which I think has been causing supply problems too. I take Rythmodan (Disopyramide) and recently had to get my supply from my friends in France would you believe. When I called the suppliers they said end of December so we'll see! Also my friends were saying the same problem is occurring in France and they were having problems getting one of their drugs called Corgard so we can't blame Brexit!
I have heard of continuing shortages with some drugs. My pharmacist says no one really knows the cause but he said it worsened following Brexit and then covid.
In NZ Diltiazem 120mg changed its manufacturer to ACCORD which was not medsafe approved.
Quite a few months and it was changed back over to medsafe manufacturer.
B12 solgar was another out of stock. Its still out. I had to get a NZ online firm to get my regular B12 from Switzerland. I paid an extra $13.50 for posting.
I have my ocxycodone prescribed by brand name because I'm allergic to the generic ones. If it's out of stock I panic because, after taking it for over 20 years, withdrawal and pain would be horrific. I have to ring round every chemist in town to see if they have any in stock which is rare because it's in bottles which are hard to store. Last time I found one at one place, 3 at another, 2 at another etc. I need 12 bottles a month so I then have to ask the GP to send single prescriptions to each chemist one at a time until I have them all. I also wish they would do a paper prescription instead of having to change the pharmacy electronically for each one. Last time, after 2 weeks I ended up with double what I should have because they forgot to cancel the original script. The Government should be urgently investigating why this is happening and get it sorted.
I had problems with one of my eye drops a few months ago and there's only one company who makes them, so I was unable to substitute them with others.Also had problems with getting Accrete D3 but that was substituted with Ad-Cal.
My online/mail order pharma, Optum, said my Dofetilide was "out of stock". Said the manufacturer had trouble getting one of the ingredients. I got some at Publix pharmacy. (U.S.).
Thanks for all the replies. I did eventually get everything with just two days supply left, albeit with double the quantity of 2.5mg ramipril instead of 5mg. Everything I get is now generic, including apixaban, with a different manufacturer every time. I haven't noticed a problem with that.
My wife ordered on the same day and is still waiting for half of the edoxaban she needs, so back to the pharmacy again this week.
I'm not sure if learning that so many others are having similar problems is comforting or more worrying. I understand that Lloyds Pharmacy was sold (reportedly to private equity group Aurelius) in early 2022 and the number of branches has since reduced from around 1500 to just 138 in October this year -though many of them are still operating under new owners.
We live in strange times. Good luck to everyone with their next prescription, and I hope everyone will manage to be patient with pharmacy staff, who must be finding it as stressful as we patients are.
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