Getting a repeat prescription from surgery, easy right? - WRONG!

Abbafan1972

I've just wasted an hour today trying to track down my prescription. I would usually have had it collected by the local pharmacy, but wanted to change this arrangement so that it was collected by the local supermarket pharmacy, which is more convenient for me.

So I duly filled out the prescription collection service form for the supermarket and took it in on Monday evening on my way back from work, along with the repeat prescription part and the items ticked. All well and good, pharmacy assistant said it would be ready Thursday (yesterday).

So I popped back on my way back from work yesterday and it wasn't there, assistant not sure where it was. Said they would ring the surgery for me in the morning to chase it and took my phone number.

Went shopping this morning and I get a voicemail from "supermarket" to say that there was a problem with the prescription not being signed and they couldn't collect it. So I get on the phone to surgery and they couldn't tell me when the prescription would be authorised. The surgery closes at 1pm on a Friday, so am I going to get the prescription today or not?

I go up to the surgery, got told that the prescription was in with the doctor and it would get signed at the end of surgery at 12.30, it was now about 11.00. Receptionist not very helpful and I leave not very happy. While I am walking down towards home I missed a call on my mobile (I can't hear it inside my bag!) and I get a voicemail from the surgery to tell me that the prescription was sent over to the original pharmacy yesterday (Thurs).

So I turn back and go into the pharmacy, the prescription is there yes, but for some reason it has been issued as 2 separate prescriptions by 2 different doctors (I take Ramipril 5mg & 1.25mg), they are usually on one prescription, so I pay one charge. Pharmacist told me because of the way they've done it, I would have to pay 2 charges, or get the surgery to re-issue it.

So off I treck back to the surgery and the receptionist was immediately on the defensive and said "your prescription has been sent over to ***pharmacy", I say "yes I know I've just been over there, but it's been done wrong". Etc, so I had to wait for it to be done again and signed. Receptionist not able to explain why they'd told me the prescription was to be signed, when it had already been sent over the other pharmacy the previous day, only "well I wasn't on duty yesterday", for god's sake!

As the pharmacy have already dispensed my medication, I've got to go back there to fetch it, but I was that peed off, I just came straight home. I'd got bags of shopping and was knackered.

Every time I ask the surgery to do something, they always seem to get it wrong. Is anyone else's surgery this bad?

**Rant over**

fluffnutter

For something as important as medicine I like to retain as much control as possible. The other half has a regular prescription and our local pharmacy is forever trying to get him to sign up with their repeat service. He did try it once - it was a nightmare. He can (as instructed) increase his dose periodically, thus he sometimes finishes the pills quicker than usual. The pharmacy couldn't cope with this; the one time he tried phoning and asking them to file the prescription earlier they refused. Their 'system' didn't allow for discrepancies like this.

As far as I can tell, whenever there are problems, the pharmacy blames the surgery and the surgery blames the pharmacy. I'd rather just deal with them separately - I email the surgery and pick it up two days later, pop to the pharmacy and job done. That way there's less to go wrong.

KxMx

I find the repeat collection excellent when they work well and terrible when they don't!

My Boots are great most of the time, but their checking/chasing up system is abysmal, if they have one at all. A ring binder and paper serve as the log and apparently the driver "asks" for a particular prescription if it is a bit late. And then when the late prescription has finally been sent through there is no priority given, it just gets chucked in the pile.

Once mine was not ready so I had them phone the surgery. Surgery promises to fax there and then but I didn't have any more time to waste. I go back 3 working days later, script was sent same day but it hadn't even been dispensed let alone filled- was still on the pile and I had to wait again! To my mind once the 5 working day mark (which is their promise) has gone, anything coming in late should be flagged up as such and put first in the queue. You know if they computerised it I think that would be better!!