Hello - I have recently moved area and therefore to a new GP practice.
This practice apparently has a policy of only prescribing 1 months worth of Levo tablets at a time, with a 1 day window to collect the next prescription in time.
This isn't going to work for me and will leave me several days without medication before I can get to the pharmacy to collect.
I've only just discovered they do this and I don't think this is a tenable arrangement and will be raising it with them.
But I wondered if anyone else has come up against this? Is seems an odd way to go about prescribing...
Be very interested to hear feedback.
With many thanks.
Written by
Gumbochutney
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Unfortunately many GP surgeries do still only prescribe 28 days worth of medication at a time. I have this issue myself but usually there is a time buffer of quite a few days to allow time for you to get the prescription dispensed.
Suggest you contact the practice manager to see if they can come up with a solution.
Sorry to here that 28 days is problematic for you and that the GP is inflexible. I’m lucky in that I can get 56 days supplies and all my meds come in 14 or 28 day blister packs. One argument to use with the practise manager is that if they get the meds to you in time for you to pick them up, you will be consistently medicated - provided their diagnosis is accurate, so that the prescription is appropriate, you will be in better health and so need to see the GP less often which helps both you and the GP practise!! I also use Patient Access to request all 5 meds at the same time about a week before I run out of the medicine which I have least of and have a choice of pharmacies so I pick the one who gives best service and get it sent electronically. This works well for me.
Yes my surgery only offers 28 days worth. I can reorder after 21 days so that gives them and the pharmacy time to get them sorted.
But honestly I'm on a stable dose of Levo and I hear of other members getting two or three months worth at a time and it seems a waste of both the surgery time and more trips for me. I dont know if it costs more or less for the pharmacy to dispense smaller amounts of meds.
It obviously costs more - more admin more staff hours more doctors hours more time wasted by patients ordering & collecting more transport on the roads delivering etc etc it’s the converse of economy of scale utterly wasteless for no good reason.
Seems odd GPs would choose to do this and create more work for themselves unless it was local CCG (or whatever they are now) rules. Some of my medicine is for one month. It's not the GP's choice, it's the local rules. My GP said it was to make more money (in prescription fees) though that wouldn't apply for thyroid drugs. He may have been joking.
They were told in 2018 it was a nonsense and didn’t save a penny from wastage by Bristol univ boffins - it’s more expensive! I’d have thought that obvious without an academic paper to prove it but actually thinking simply and clearly about the ramifications is old hat these days I guess, we need an army of academics calculating using complex statistical formulae on mountains of raw data to prove what’s plain as daylight to me - - all the wastage studies advocating it were very poor quality so not worth the paper they were written on the article is here if you havent seen it: bristol.ac.uk/primaryhealth...
All that super brain collaborative academic effort and 6 years later and it’s still going on.
I guess it keeps people employed so has merit from that angle.
My Surgery allows you to request repeat prescriptions upto 4 days before the current one expires. BUT the local Tesco pharmacy has recently requested (you guessed it) up to 4 days processing time (to take an item off the shelf and put it in a bag with a label on it). It's ridiculous.
Mine allows ordering after 21 days, so it gives them 7 days to issue it and the pharmacy to fill it. But it doesnt benefit me as I dont drive and its a good 40 minute round trip. Which would be made easier if I didnt have to go each month.
it’s the same at our GPs but you can order a double amount if going away so I often went away 😉 which gave me a good stock .
Alternatively in Spain and another couple of countries you can purchase Levo over the counter at any chemist for a few Euro and the packs are much larger.
I believe that doctors are only allowed to prescribe up to 28 days at a time so as soon as you start taking something you will allowed to put in your next prescription up to 7 days before you run out so as long as you put in for your next request 3 weeks after the last one you will never run out, just put a reminder on your calendar for every 4 weeks and not every calendar month or you will miss one prescription per year which is where most people get messed up as long as you remember that you get the next prescription 4 weeks apart, how many days worth was you wanting from your doctor? you said you have just moved to a new doctor he will know when you last put in for them with your last doctor. Good luck getting your meds sorted out Regards Poppy Ann
I use to get more than a month of Levothyroxine a pop but I gave it up 10 years ago so it’s probably some daft new rule a young wet behind the ears, lacking in life experience and vastly over promoted fast typist who’s very cheap to employ, came up with .
This is my understanding too (re only allowed to prescribe up to 28 days at a time) I think there is a service whereby one can 'sign up' to a chemist to keep track as it were of ordering on your behalf & delivering them to your home.
it varies, my surgery routinely prescribes 2 months. (and my previous one used to prescribe 3 months). ... if they try to start this 28 day malarky with me i'll be 'going away ' a lot (about every 2 months lol ).
I only get 1 month at a time but mine is on an annual prescription and just gets sent to my nominated pharmacy so they let me know when it is ready every month. Works perfectly for me.
My husband has been T2D for over 20 years and has to reorder his Metformin monthly, strikes me as very inefficient and unnecessary, it's not as though they're opioids or even dangerous. Things improved with the arrival of the Patient App but his other meds are 30 to a pack but he has to order them together. He can order a few days in advance because if you're going away you need some sort of mechanism to have enough when you go.
Oh tell me! 28/30 day packs. That’s the bane of my life. What I would all my ‘main’ regular blood pressure tablet comes in a 28 tablet blister pack. I’ve managed to get another tablet cut back to a multiple of that but I’ve still got one where I get 30 pills.
I have an amazing pharmacy who can get one non generic drug none of the town pharmacies could or were prepared to get and who take care of all my ordering and I get the lot at once.
I would try and find an independent pharmacy who still does that.
No idea why someone makes life so difficult for us. Years ago I was given a three month supply when I visited my brother’s GP in Scotland. Don’t know if that still happens up there but it makes a huge difference to life if that happens. No worrying about whether or not you will be able to get your next batch of the pills that keep you going.
It's a nonsense isn't it! My daughter has been asthmatic nearly all her life, she's 52 now, she uses a lot of ventolin because she doesn't fare well with the preventative, tried them all. She still has a battle with the surgery to get more than the 2 inhalers a month they think she should have. She also has a nebuliser, self bought, getting the nebulas another battle. One GP told her it was dangerous using a neb because she might delay getting to hospital if she didn't respond. At 52 she would absolutely know if she need to go to hospital, it's actually somewhere she hates but as she explained to the GP, by managing her asthma herself she's saving the NHS. Makes little difference though. She resorts to going into a pharmacy and asking for an inhaler because she's lost hers, always gets one.
my chemist gives 8 weeks at a time. It’s set up to go there automatically. (If you are going on holiday when they are due they sometimes give you them early which worked for me as it means I have some spare) .
I think you get 3 or 4 days to pick them up and it’s a robot machine you can access 24 hours to pick up your prescription so that makes life easier. (It’s like putting in a code at a bank but your prescription comes out)
My surgery has its own pharmacy but I can only order 28 days of Levo and Liothyronine at a time. I usually order when I only have 7 levo tablets left and they dispense within 3 days and send a text when the prescriptions are ready to pick up. They have, however, recently gone through an extensive upgrade at their premises and have installed a 24hr “hole-in-the-wall” collection machine which allows patients to collect their meds any time out of hours! You’re sent an unlocking code and the meds are delivered like a vending machine. A great improvement, especially for those who work!
In Scotland, I used to get my prescription on a 2 monthly repeat prescription where you had to contact the practice every 2 months. But a few years ago the practice started a 'CMS' prescription service. This means it is now automatically prescribed on a 2 monthly basis so I don't have to put in repeat prescription requests. I normally collect a week ahead of when I need it. This CMS service is normally applied only after being on a steady dose for 1 year, if you need an increase in dose eg 25mcg the increased dose is on 2 monthly repeat prescription for a year and at review after a year (if increase is still needed) it is incorporated into CMS prescription. I have no idea what the abbreviation CMS represents, perhaps Continuous Medicine Supply?? Anyway CMS has removed a lot of the hassle that was previously involved.
Hello I found similar with my GP. I now have the prescribing policy of the ICB which does allow longer so I am about to tackle them. It's worth getting the document for your ICB. I also recall GMC or BMA guidance that says if it is a chronic illness then longer periods are more appropriate.
I spoke to my medications manager at my gp surgery when I was only getting 4 weekly levo prescriptions. I explained it’s a life long drug and will never be without. It’s a waste of money and time doing monthly prescriptions. I now get mine every 3 months from my gp. I get my T3 medication from my local hospital pharmacy who I encouraged to move to every 3 months also. A bit of education to them explaining it’s cheaper to supply 3 monthly than monthly. It just makes sense.
I did think his life work bumping off generally elderly women patients (easy target) lives on in the treatment of the hypothyroid….TSH of 20 just fine for those old dribblers in fact they might not need any Levothyroxine at all….as one endocrinologist seems to be implying. A disciple of HS. At least he made a quick job of it with mother morphine not a long lingering hideous suffering.
That does sound a pain. I think it can depend on where you are in the U.K. A friend of mine who is a practice nurse in Wales says it is standard in Wales, but they have free prescriptions there.
Our GP will prescribe 2 months at a time as standard. It might be worth asking around to see what experience is like at other GP surgeries in your area. You are perfectly entitled to move GP and if there is one nearby that will prescribe 2 months supply at a time……
I get 28 days supply at a time and have to order 3 days before usually online through Patient Access and the new prescription goes to the Chemist to collect. This works fine.
Like you, I have recently moved to anew area and new GP. My previous GP always gave 2 months supply of drugs, but the new one will only give 1 month. I have to order it online and it goes through to the local pharmacy, but I need to give at least 7 days notice. It seems to work this way. My surgery says that they are following national guidelines by prescribing for only 28 days.
Many of us on repeat medication are exempt from prescription charges, but there must be many who have to pay. My cynical theory for the 28 days only medication regime is that the government gets more money from more prescription charges.
It may be worth trying to order your meds just one day early every month for a few months. Not admitting to this 😉 but I now have 2 weeks worth of Levo left when I order my next prescription. (That's in addition to the 'emergency 6 weeks supply' I have stashed away from when my doses were getting messed with as the system allowed me to order more than I was taking)Then again, could you order one week early saying you're going on holiday, then just stick to 4 weeks from your last prescription request.
We’re not musicians needing to play the system we just need life long thyroid hormone therapy and this system is broke as a method of delivery to that end and needs changing, not an instrument even worth playing I’d say! But we’ll have to twang away ad nauseum
I agree. We should not need to play the system, but when the system is broken and leaves people stressing about whether their medications/supplements/life saving drugs etc will "last out", you need to do something.
I have always got 3 months supply here in West Wales, just tick a box on a web site as to what you need, and a local chemist delivers it. Totally brilliant. It worked so well they had to change it. Now you just tick a box and not say which pills you need. Last delivery had pills I had not taken for at least two years, and a BP medicine which I reacted badly to. I suppose no one at the surgery had "cleaned" my list for a while. The chemist refused to take my useless drugs back, even though they were still in a sealed package, but did "dispose" them for me. What a huge waste of money! The chemist said this was now happening all the time.
I have regular 3 monthly appointments at the hospital for something else. Usually the appointment comes through in a letter within a week of the last appointment. This time nothing has been sent and I have now phoned 17 times and still not got through to the right person, although I have chatted to most of the hospital by now!
At my surgery any prescription is only issued for 28 days. However, on the online account, it becomes available to request again after 14 days, so I tend to do this between 14-20 days (especially since the surgery put up a note saying to allow 5 days for them to issue a prescription, plus it can then take my pharmacy up to a week to actually get my T3 meds).
I've built a little bit of a buffer doing this, so if there are any issues I won't be running out super fast.
They also allow you to put notes on your prescription requests, and will allow you to do a custom order of double the amount if you're going away. We genuinely do go away a fair amount, so do this when necessary (will be doing it again next month actually, as away for 3.5 weeks in Oct).
It's slightly annoying, but I've made the system work for me. And I'm just grateful I get my T3 prescribed to be honest.
That sounds insane that they only prescribe you 28 days at a time. I live in the United States and I have never heard of anybody prescribing this way. That's the way they prescribe control substances is here, month to month. I do a mail order prescription pharmacy and get my Synthroid 90 days at a time. I feel for you. That would create a lot of stress for me going month to month like that.
We are fine at the moment with bi-monthly ordering. But at 85 and 78 - what happens when we can no longer cope with whatever prescribing system is in place ? I'm scared....
I didn’t realise that (since 2022, I think?) Rx intervals have been reduced to 28 days.
From your bio, I think you are now in the UK:
1. I had a look online as I thought there MUST be something in place for elderly, invalid or disabled people - and found ‘eRD’ - electronic Repeat Dispensing - but I think it’s also available to anyone who gets regular/repeat prescription as long as they are on a settled dose etc.
…eRD allows the prescriber (your GP) to automatically send a series of repeat prescriptions (for up to 12 months) to your pharmacy in one go, so you don’t have to order them each time – the Rx will be ready at the pharmacy each time you need them.
The prescriber can set the specified intervals based on the patient's usage history to predict the number of uses/doses - I’d ask the GP if they’d issue 3 month prescriptions.
“It's really easy to sign up for eRD - just ask your GP or pharmacist for more information.”
………
2. I think you may need to call the pharmacy before collecting (not sure) but most pharmacies also deliver your NHS Rx medications for FREE to your home - for eligible*** NHS patients, so you don’t have to go into collect.
*** “If you are on regular repeat medication and you live with long-term illness or disability you may qualify for this service.” Plus, I’m sure your age/s would qualify you for their free delivery service.
I would write to the practice manager and explain that if you go on holiday or are busy then the timeframe is not enough for you. My GP was accommodating when I did this, although sometime later they forgot the arrangement.
I use Pharmacy2U now and when I order my repeat, I get two months worth (I used to get one). I think this is the practice authorising it. Then Pharmacy2U continues to send me reminders that I don’t need after a month ha ha!
Good luck. There must be many patients it won’t work for. I expect someone here knows more, but I’m sure there was some official guidance that said we could have more than one month.
I get two 28 day packs. My pharmacy takes a whole two weeks to get Teva in. I have to speak to prescribing every time I need to renew and explain again but they do send off the prescription so I can get it on time.
My surgery will only prescribe 1 month a time too. I can only order it during the 7 days prior to running out. However I have my prescription sent to a pharmacy where they deliver. I'd certainly raise the issue with the surgery as sounds a bit harsh to me🤷🏻
Yes, we have just moved (3 months ago) and the surgery doesn’t have our medical records yet so they will only prescribe 28 days at a time. They said once they receive the records they will prescribe 84 days at a time.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Problems getting American liothyronine prescriptions
Batch prescriptions
GP reducing levo
Refused T3 by new GP, after taking it for 16 years
My CCG have advised my GP to stop my T3 - Cornwall
