There have been a few posts recently about how annoying it is only to get a prescription for one month's worth of thyroid meds - particularly now when GP practices are not fully open and there are often queues at the pharmacy.
There is an interesting piece in the medical column of today's Times with a something that may help - although it warns that it isn't universally available, or available for all medication, and you need to be on a stable dose of repeat medicine:
"Ask your pharmacist about batch-prescribing. Protocols for this initiative, which allows GPs to issue batches of prescriptions for anything up to 12 months at a time, vary depending on where you live in the UK .... The idea is simple. If you are on a stable regimen, then your GP sends the batch of prescriptions to your chosen pharmacist who then dispenses them automatically every month. You do not need to re-order."
The new meds should be ready a week before the previous prescription runs out and some pharmacies text you when the next batch can be picked up.
I haven't tried it - and don't know if thyroid meds are covered - but thought people might be interested to see if it does work.
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fuchsia-pink
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My surgery has done this. We are normally only allowed 4 weeks worth at a time. They have now sent 3 months worth of prescriptions to the pharmacy for my regular medication, who will make the prescription up at the time the new one is needed. I've had my first one and it included 2 x repeat prescriptions in the bag (presumably this is a reminder for the patient).
My last medication was picked up for me from the pharmacy on 27th April, although the dispensing date on the label is 24th April. The first repeat prescription says "Last issue 24 April 2020" and the second repeat prescription says "Last issue 22nd May 2020.
So we still only get 28 days worth at a time, but the next prescription will autoimatically be made up by the pharmacy and will be available on the allotted date. Once these two "repeats" have been dispensed I expect the surgery will arrange for another batch to be done if circumstances are still the same.
At least this saves my son from queueing just to drop the repeat form off every month, he will only have to queue once a month to pick up my medication.
My GP just did this at my annual review. I got a full years worth batch prescription.
Seems to work well
Previously I use to have to order online, then go pick up paper prescription from surgery, as there was no option to select my extremely helpful small independent pharmacy.
I would then drive 12 miles to pharmacy. Drop prescription off and go back 3-5 days later to collect (obviously they don’t normally keep T3 in stock)
GP was able to choose this pharmacy for me, even though it’s some way away
Now I can just go once every 2 months and collect direct from pharmacy
Good to hear it works, thank you (and SeasideSusie ) Every little helps, as they say! And I thought it was helpful to have the correct technical term for it
I doubt that we could have this in North Wales, the Welsh health service is desperately out of date with all things, but and definately the repeat prescription service. But I will definately ask the Chemist, I will be collecting my next repeat tomorrow, or Thursday.
I don't know for certain but I think it will be an arrangement between the surgery and the pharmacy. My health board is BCUHB as I think yours is, but as every area is different I assume they will all make their own arrangements. Where I live there is only one pharmacy so every patient uses it so it would make sense to arrange something that makes it easier for everyone who has regular repeats.
I agree, it would make things easier and I will talk to Llyr at the chemist to see if he knows about this and whether it might work here. I am in Betsi Cadwallader area, here. What I was talking about with Wales being in the dark ages is that I have no access to my results or any thing else that is generally within my medical records.
The surgery did set up an email repeat meds system. I tried it myself early in 2018, and it worked! I got my prescription on time.
However it was the only time that it did work! I tried it many times, I lost count of the many times that my repeats were not actually ordered, so I gave up on that idea because I so often found myself short of medication. And when you are epileptic and low thyroid that is not a great position to find yourself in.
Now I have to go down to the surgery to take my repeat requests.
Then the Chemist goes and collects the repeats from the surgery after the GP has signed them - or I would have to go and collect them and take them to the chemist. So the Chemist is saving me 1 journey, by collecting the repeat scripts for his regular customers.
I ring the chemist when I think that my medication might be ready, to check that it is ready & drive down to the village to collect my medication.
My brother in law, in Stoke has 2 months scripts at a time from his local Chemist. They are sent to the Chemist electronically and the Chemist's text the patients to inform them when there meds are ready to collect.
Patients can also have access to test results electronically there too, which is not available to patients here as far as I know.
As far as I am aware most people in England seem to have these services. I had never heard of these things before being in Stoke for so long during the last year, hence my accusation that North Wales Health services are still in the Dark Ages!!
SeasideSuzie do you get electronic access to repeat scripts and test results??
I hope that you don't or I am going to be hammering onto the door of the local Health Board, which I have had to do a few times previously.
SeasideSuzie do you get electronic access to repeat scripts and test results??
I hope that you don't or I am going to be hammering onto the door of the local Health Board, which I have had to do a few times previously.
No online access for results or anything like that although we can arrange to have online access for repeat prescriptions if we wish.
I prefer to use the pharmacy collection service which is where you take your repeat prescription form to the pharmacy, drop it into a box at the counter, the box is emptied and prescriptions are taken to the surgery at 10.30 every morning by one of the pharmacy staff. Then during the afternoon one of the pharmacy staff goes back to the surgery to pick up all the signed prescriptions, it takes a day or two for your medication to be ready and you go back to the pharmacy to pick it up. It's nearer for me to drop my repeat form at the pharmacy than to walk to the surgery to hand my repeat form in then go back to collect it a couple of days later, then walk to the pharmacy to hand it over.
Of course, the 3 month batch prescription has taken over for the time being, I'm sure it will go back to normal eventually.
Well, that saves me from banging on a few doors anyway, thank you.
Our own surgery set up the optional electronic repeat request that is in place at the moment, but I am not the only patient to have stopped using it, for the same reasons.
The Practice Manager at the surgery has told me repeatedly that I am the only patient who has trouble with the online repeat system, but staff at the chemist shop told me differently and told me of the sheer number of disenchanted patients locally.
So I just take my own repeat in. The Chemist and the surgery are more or less the same difference from the surgery anyway.
The real bugbear for me is that I am 1,000 ft up on the side of a mountain and the cost in fuel of the back home climb back to my 1,000 ft high home is steep, not so much now of course because of the cheap fuel at the moment, but that won't last long will it?
There are so many more cars on the road locally at the moment and fuel costs are sure to go up as traffic increases.
I was looking for something like that but specific to the current Covid crisis. My surgery has only started doing it during the Covid crisis so not sure if it will carry on when things get back to normal, somehow I doubt it, it will go back to putting your repeat form in the box at the pharmacy every month. Your link is useful to know that it's available during normal times if the GP is willing.
If you're on a stable dose and they've been doing batch prescribing for you during Covid, it would be pointless them going back to the 'old' way. But only time will tell!
I really don't know why they changed the system years ago, I used to get 3 or 4 months worth of Levo at a time. Now I have inhalers as well, it's hardly likely I'll suddenly stop needing those! Plus there are a couple of other items that are prescribed regularly as they're used daily so I really don't see the need to just issue 4 weeks at a time, it really does waste everyone's time.
I have a horrible feeling that face to face appointments will become rare once things settle down, I think telephone appointments will start to be the norm which I absolutely try to avoid if possible.
I really dislike telephone appointments too... you can't see the raised eyebrow expression on their face And please don't let's go down the route of assuming everyone is able to do face to face Zoom appointments from now on. Technology is not everyone's cuppa, nor is it even available to everyone, especially in rural locations.
I believe this facility has actually been available for quite some time, but most surgeries have been very reluctant to use it. Good to see it mentioned in a newspaper as this may prompt many more patients to pursue it. The only worry will be if the batch holding pharmacy decides this allows them to dispense whatever they have in stock or want to get rid of, rather than the individual patient preferred brand.
So, make sure you check the contents of your prescription bag before you leave the pharmacy. Or, if having it delivered, ask the delivery person to wait whilst you check the brand is the one you or your GP have specified.
At the moment, unless you are ill and need to see the GP, we can't set foot inside the surgery.
Everyone has to stand in a queue outside and hope that someone notices the queue and opens a window (quickly opened and closed again even more rapidly!) to accept repeat requests, or dole out medication, or whatever else patients are there for.
The actual surgery office is in the centre of the building, corridors on all sides, so no windows & we have to wait for someone to notice us waiting outside! There are wrought iron gates to the porch which are closed at the moment and there is no access to the letterbox, which is on the inside of the gates! Dear, dear, what a performance it is.
I choose not to get my meds from the surgery direct, because I want to keep the chemist shop open in the village, we have lost so many businesses here in the recent years, hardware shop, bank, dedicated Post Office (there is now a small one inside the local Spar), pubs etc etc which is very sad. The place is really on it's last legs which is deplorable.
There isn't even a bus service from where I live, near Carmel, which goes to this local village - Penygroes - that I am talking of. We can get a fairly frequent bus service into Caernarfon, but that is a half hour journey in a car away, while I can get to Penygroes in the car in a few minutes, down-mountain all the way.
If people could have accessed Penygroes by bus once or twice a day from up in the Carmel area, many of the businesses might have been able stay open in Penygroes.
Still the powers that be chose to get rid of the bus services and Caernarfon gets the various business these days.
this seems no different to what my local pharmacy does now. I dont have to order, they do it all for me (but still one at a time). I still queue to collect every month. So wouldn't help me, but I WOULD help the pharmacy to work efficiently.
Having said that, I'm always trying to wangle a dose increase, so maybe not.
Yes I have had the batch system for several years for T3. After an annual review the GP prescribes me a year of batch prescriptions. So the chemist doesn’t keep expensive stocks, which may go out of date, I phone when I need my next batch prescription and it is ordered in for me and I collect about 3 days later. Works brilliantly and saves everyone time! N.b. The pharmacy is adjacent to the surgery.
I suggest you all ask next time you go in and see if it’s offered. Good luck!
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