I've been prescribed the rotigotine skin patch by my consultant but my GP surgery are saying they can't prescribe it!! Presume this is down to funding. Anyone else had this problem?
Anyone struggled to get the rotigotin... - Restless Legs Syn...
Anyone struggled to get the rotigotine skin patch?
healthunlocked.com/rlsuk/po...
This has happened to others in the UK.The above post shows it happened 3 years ago. The NHS definitely allow it but due to local funding cuts , some surgeries with their own budgets will try to refuse expensive meds like rotigotine.
Ask your neurologist to write/phone your GP to demand it as the only suitable treatment for you.
It is frightening that with NHS budget cuts we could all be refused the only drugs that give us relief from this dreadful disease. Bet they wouldn't refuse cancer or heart drugs but RLS can cause just as serious consequences. Yet another example of this disease not being taken seriously.
My surgery often doesn't have all the patches prescribed but they always arrive the next day
When my daughter tried the patches she commented that with them she didnt feel like she had RLS they were so good. However its not her doctor who will not supply them. It is the chemist who refused them. All down to the expense. Seems they can only get so many at a time and have to be kept at a certain temp. The Scottish NHS will not give them until she has tried everything going and proved that nothing else works. She is on a tablet that makes her sick and has to take an anti sickness tablet with it and certainly knows she has RLS now. All down to cost. In England they are prescribed without any problem.
It depends on the surgery. As you can see from the link above, some people cannot get the patch in England. Even in the same county there can be some surgeries which prescribe the patch and others which refuse.
Avosyl I have never come across a pharmacist in the UK who has refused to give a patient a medication prescribed by a GP. I have heardof it in the States. I would suggest going with the prescription to a different pharmacy x
I've had restless legs (and shoulders) for years, made much worse when my doctor put me on Ropinirole. Recently, a specialist prescribed Rotigotine patches and the RL has 99% cleared up. Wonderful ! I've looked up the cost to the NHS and (in Jan 2017) it was £81.10 / month for a single-dose patch - fairly expensive but not bank-breaking.
Just thought I would let you know. My perseverance paid off and my surgery have agreed to prescribe the patch, as a consultant has recommended it! Fingers crossed it works!