delivery of MTX injections

[Flor1rence]

I have my injections arranged by patient care at Alcura. Now they normally contact me when I have a month's supply but I have heard nothing so I contacted saying I have four left when I did and after tom I have only two, my hospital have not sent a prescription yet so I'm concerned but she now says wait till I have one left and they will chase it! Has anyone else had this problem ? 😨

[allanah]

Grrr. Id be onto the hospital now !! 😡😡

[Flor1rence in reply to allanah]

I've just contacted the hospital she's on leave till 2nd June so I have left a message saying whilst its not overly important at this stage perhaps you would like to call me next week as after tom I only have two injections left😂

[allanah in reply to Flor1rence]

Still grrrr😡😡😡🤣🤣

[Flor1rence in reply to allanah]

right dentist now, I went to opticians yesterday and they were next to useless, appointment on a Sunday lunchtime in a month😤she said whilst we have appointments at four they are normally for school children!!!!!Grrrrrr

[allanah in reply to Flor1rence]

😡😡😡😡😡double grrrr

[Hidden]

Chase the hospital. The hospital pharmacy has to release it . It could be just a backlog but a gentle push won’t do any harm x

[Flor1rence in reply to Hidden]

I've chased them and left a message on answer phone, its a nightmare getting a response x

[Hidden in reply to Flor1rence]

Poo !!

[LoneEra]

Is there any way you can get this in writing to the pharmacy or the hospital and copy your rheumy team and GP? I get the feeling it might all suddenly be paid attention to if an email or letter were to arrive...

[Flor1rence in reply to LoneEra]

I see what happens Tuesday and if no response I will call again to the hospital😉

[AKA13]

Hi, I have had similar problems when my blood tests have not been up to date and they held back with prescriptions. I have also in the past contacted LLoyds who supply mine to chase it up with the Rheumatology Dept and it has prompted them to do the prescription .

[Flor1rence in reply to AKA13]

Alcura said they will only chase it when I have two left but then went on to say contact them when I have one left!!!Anyway the team are aware at Dermatology now so I see what happens Tuesday, its so unusual for them to be so late. They didn't pick up my sharps bin I had arranged few weeks ago so I had to wait another fortnight!😃

[Sheila_G]

You can do without that stress. Don't wait until you have only one left. That is not acceptable. Get on to them again.

[Flor1rence]

thanks Sheila, im really struggling at work now, im losing my voice cause im so tired. I will contact again before I have 2 left x

[CagneysMum]

This doesn’t sound right ? They shouldn’t leave it so close in case one of the pen fails. I usually have the reverse problem with my supplier and have to delay deliveries. Chase it up if no reply. 👍

[Flor1rence in reply to CagneysMum]

yeah I do usually CagneysMum but this time its awful. Dermo nurse has left a voicemail to say i should hear something tomorrow so fingers crossed. I must admit I didn't think about pen failure, thank you for pointing that out to me x

[Wobbies]

I am lucky as MTX comes from GP via my local pharmacy. I did have that problem with Healthcare at Home with my biologic and missed a dose but it was down to systems failure at hospital, So annoying when you have to keep chasing. Good luck.

[Flor1rence in reply to Wobbies]

thank you Wobbies, fingers crossedx

[eastbournelady]

I get 8 at a time and they usually contact me 2 weeks before, but now I have to ring them to get a delivery arranged, they did have my prescription but I did worry as I only remembered when I was taking last one that I hadnt had a phone call. At moment RA nurses are only just getting back to normal so I expect delays have occurred because of covid etc. Best idea is to chase hospital to make sure prescription is in hand.

[Flor1rence in reply to eastbournelady]

yeah I chased hospital yesterday and nurse left voicemail today to say i should hear something tom so hopefully😉

[Happy5]

Sorry if this is a stupid question but why are you getting your MTX via the hospital?When I was first diagnosed and prescribed MTX the RD dept liaised with my surgery who do a repeat script when I request it.

Then I can obtain it from my local pharmacy.

Seems a nightmare, does your head in eh all the ups and downs of dealing with this disease?

[Hidden in reply to Happy5]

Most (or at least many) people taking injectable mtx have it delivered via a home care company. My understanding is that the cost of items prescribed by the GP usually comes out of their purse, so this is one method of ensuring that the cost of meds, but particularly expensive meds, prescribed by tertiary (hospital) care is not taken out of the primary care budget as a result of the GP issuing the script. It got to a point a few years back where GPs started refusing to prescribe items on principle, but now there is what appears to be a happy medium, whereby the GP prescribes the more bog standard items that don’t cost the Earth, and the hospital take care of the more unusual or expensive drugs - or more expensive medicinal forms - via homecare services. To put it in perspective, 24 mtx 2.5mg tablets would cost roughly £2-4 depending on brand. At the top end, that’s a per pill price of 16.6p, meaning the cost of a weekly 25mg dose would be £1.66. A 25mg pen to inject with costs around £16-17 each. I can understand why the GP would balk when asked to prescribe an item that costs £64 per month, versus tablets that would cost them £6.64, when they’re not the ones recommending them.

[Flor1rence in reply to Hidden]

Hi Charlie, I have my injections delivered via patient home care but they don't normally leave it so late to deliver, I have 2 pens left and been advised to wait till Tuesday next week so I will be calling them Tuesday afternoon after work. I'm on reduced hours after my elbow op so I will chase next week😦

[Hidden in reply to Flor1rence]

I was just replying to happy to explain why it wasn’t coming via the GP. I had pens from Alcura between July last year and March just gone, and had a few problems - I was told from around Christmas I had to wait until I was down to 2 to organise a new delivery, but also had difficulties with deliveries. Not sure what’s going on there, but having had meds from Healthcare at Home for my daughter for the last 2 years, we’ve had big issues with them, too. Great idea in principle, not a huge fan in practice!

[Flor1rence in reply to Hidden]

Sorry Charlie I realised after I post that it wasn't for me and was for Happy, whoops !

[Flor1rence in reply to Happy5]

Hi Happy, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in 2016 and after steroids etc I was offered oral MTX but I felt very sick so been on injections since 2019. Apparently my hospital send a script to patient home care and they deliver but they normally don't leave me with two pens or less before contacting 😉