Pretty fed up with the local pharmacy being chaotic, slow in dispensing, unreliable and me having to chase my medication.
Would love to hear from anyone who orders their medication from a company and which is then sent to them in the post. Am thinking this might be a better option perhaps ? Maybe ? Looking for good and bad experiences from you.
TIA.
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PaulineHM
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Inspired by some of the comments I've been doing some research and apparently my local(ish) family-run pharmacy offer a free collection and delivery service so I think I will try them as, like many people, I would like to support local businesses, and this particular indie pharmacy have been a fixture in my hometown for decades.
Hello Pauline 😊 Since i haven't been as mobile I have used Pharmacy2U. Never a problem, always quick delivery by post. It takes 2 - 3 days after the doctors' approval, but if you keep on top of it, brilliant! If I need something more urgently, I ask the surgery to send the prescription to a local pharmacy and I collect it from there either the same or next day.
They are also supposed to be helping the NHS by getting the meds as cheaply as possible to save them money. They will however, send the meds you prefer/ need, if your doctor specifies on your prescription.
Back in February I put in a repeat prescription with Boots online and a few days later got told the doctors had refused to issue it and asked me to give them a ring to find out why.
Thankfully I had ordered early so had plenty of time to sort things out!
As requested I gave the surgery a ring to ask about the prescription and they said I needed a medication review which thankfully I had booked nice and early online with one of the GPS and said there was a prescription there they were sending to the local Boots shop and collect it that Thursday afternoon!
The Thursday afternoon came and went and I didn't get a message saying to collect the prescription but didn't think much of it and then a few days passed by and still nothing and I was worried and rang the pharmacy myself to see what was going on and no they hadn't received the prescription and were apologetic and advised me to go to the booked appointment as planned and get the prescription there which I did do and no harm done!
Then it was a Wednesday at the end of March and I received a message from the local Boots saying the prescription from the end of February was ready and with the prescription was a form saying to book a medication review which I ignored and threw in the bin as that had been done already!
Good job I was astute enough to have booked an appointment for the review with the doctor early after that palaver!
I used an online pharmacy & it was hopeless. They never had all my medications in stock at the same time, and refused to deliver the order in stages. Also, if you’re on anything slightly unusual, eg antifungals or nebulised antibiotics, they can’t cope. I use an independent pharmacy now & they’re sooo helpful, and very fast
Hi...I get mine delivered by a pharmacy from the next town over to where I live, the service is fantastic often receiving it the same day as my request has been sent in. Have you another pharmacy in your town or another town that would deliver to you?
Hi Pauline,we recently moved to a new home from Lanark to Carluke which is only a few miles away.One advantage we thought would be to escape the only health centre in Lanark which just happens to be I consider the worst practice in Scotland,it was so bad the local authority a closed it and reset it up again with new staff.Unfortunately this practice still remains poor Imagine our disappointment when we tried to find a new practice in Carluke out application was refused since Carluke is still covered by the Lanark practice.
To save us the travel back to Lanark for our prescriptions we found Lloyds provide a home delivery service.Unfortunately again despite Lloyds food service it still relies on the Lanark practice to process our prescriptions which can still take over a week.
I used boots during lockdown. It was all fine until I received an order with just 6 of my medication instead of 56. The pharmacist said it was boots and boots said it was the doctors. In the meantime I was left without my meds and was moving house. It was all an awful mess. In the end the pharmacist sorted out a prescription for my local boots who put in a priority order. I now use the pharmacy at my surgery as I live more than a mile away. Good luck I know our nearest chemist is very hit and miss too.
I was supposed to have had a prescription at the end of February with the local Boots but it didn't get processed until the end of March and thankfully I got paper prescriptions off the doctor after I had booked a review on my own accord with them so no harm done but I was really cross!
It's a lesson in ordering prescriptions early and that I am right to do that and allow lots of time to do things that I reckon are going to be frustrating and when they aren't it's a nice surprise!
please support your local pharmacy.. if you can , many are independently owned, they have to pay out in advance for their stock inc medication,,,, then will be reimbursed by nhs … ( someone please correct if I’m wrong)
Thanks, I would love to support my local pharmacy for exactly the reasons you state and have been doing so since I moved house nearly two years ago. Day Lewis is a group business.
However, this morning I am without certain meds to take, and this isn’t the first time it has happened. What am I to do ??? I am not prepared to let my health suffer for the sake of an inefficient local ( only) pharmacy.
Think it's a great idea in principle my only concern would be the post - in our village if we get post 3 times a week we are lucky.And unless our regular postie is on we never get post on a Saturday.
hi Pauline, better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know. . I still can’t get standby End of Life meds for my wife after 3 days. I raised the roof . All pharmacies are, apparently, in the same boat. Our’s is 7 working days ( that can mean 10 in real terms) I tried postal delivery it was poor so back to local chemist
What you really need is a small local pharmacy run by someone who cares. Day Lewis is a massive chain. Kamsons is the same around my way ie none of the in-store pharmacists has an interest in the business or in the patients. Unfortunately these small independents are disappearing.
Pauline I used to use boots on line but I gave them up as a lot of the meds had hardly any life left in them the expiry dates were useless and also mixed box packaging. I now go to my local pharmacy and for the last six months they’ve been ok
I had to Hector to get a prescription recently after it got messed up and thankfully no harm done but I was really cross though!
Good news as I have got a new job in a residential home and I started last week and it's a 12 hour day tomorrow and Friday!
I had always wanted to have done nursing since I was a little girl but my father had stopped me and I had hated him for it and also for us moving when I was 11 and wasn't consulted over it.
One of my friends reckoned life had waited until my father was out of the way to bring to me the life I was meant to have before it was snatched away!
9 miles away from your nearest town is a long way !My suggestion may not apply to you but may help others.
The wait times at my local Pharmacy (Lloyds) got quite bad and missing items.
Changed to Morrisons Pharmacy and the store is only 2 miles for me.
Open longer hours and at weekends.
I can visit the Doctor in the morning and get a text to say it's ready for collection 5 hours later ! Repeat monthly prescriptions work like clockwork.
I get my prescriptions from Lloyds direct and they have been excellent. Their system has not let either my husband or myself down and I am so pleased I changed to them 😀
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