Last week CHS's certificate ran out, he was also running short of medication.
The certificate has to be ordered by phone, the medication has to be ordered online.
Can I arrange for them both to be available at the same time, of course not.
That would go some way to making my life a little easier, and we can't have that now can we.
Collecting the certificate took 20 minutes on Friday as they couldn't find it, the receptionist checked the computer system and it had definitely been issued but it had disappeared into a black hole somewhere.
It turned up eventually filed under the wrong heading!
Today, according to the email I received the prescription was ready to be collected.
I dropped CHS at stroke club at 10 o'clock, drove to the Dr's and asked for the script, I gave the surname twice and spelt it four times, no script could be found.
I provided his DOB three times, showed the email I had received announcing that the script was ready for collection, quoted the postcode three times and finally script was found, misfiled same as the certificate had been.
Looked at script, found assorted mistakes, handed it back to be corrected and sat in waiting room until the corrections were made.
Finally given corrected script, went to pharmacy, got soaked through as the rain was torrential.
Handed script over the counter, was told there was a 10 minute wait, told assistant I would go and buy milk and return asap.
Purchased milk, returned to pharmacy, script had been lost!
Banged head on counter, screamed and cried until script found. One item short so I need to go back next week to collect this.
I know it's just human error and I know mistakes happen but I get four hours once a week when CHS is at stroke club, it is good for him and it gives me a break.
Today's farce took up three and a half hours of my four hour break. Is it any wonder I end up a gibbering wreck.
I'll admit that occasionally I collect the script and get it filled in 20 minutes but these occasions are few and far between.
Today was a more usual occurrence.
13 comments:
I feel for you. Normally everything runs smoothly at our surgery but this week with a severe chest infection and I had already requested steroids which I am supposed to take with the antibiotics, it took so long for them to sort it out I am still in the throes after two lots of antibiotics. I will join you in the head banging.
How frustrating! Sorry you didn't get your much deserved free time!
I do believe that people just do these things to us to see if we can handle it. Or maybe they think they are testing our brains so we don't get dementia? Or maybe their brains are demented because they cannot do menial tasks without a phone in their hands. Whatever! So sorry your day was not a good one.
Carla
I feel your pain. I know exactly where you are coming from as I had similar when my hubby was in hospital. The pharmacy has never completely filled one of his prescriptions to this day! 38+years insulin diabetic.
I too feel your pain. My husband has a repeat prescription for blood pressure pills and every month he has the same problem as you. It never goes smoothly. Last time you posted about this I read it out to him to show him that he is not alone. I will read this one out to him too. (He never reads blogs). It doesn't really help but you are not alone. It is appalling!
Did you send each agency a copy of this post? You are making them famous "across the pond". That same country where some folks long for socialized medicine. Hope you carve out some time alone soon.
Sorry to say this but I phone my renewal in and am told when it will be ready (usually the next day). And so it is when I go to pick it up. I have never had a single problem.
Exactly the same in my neck of the woods. It is a wonder that no one has been killed from the wrong medicine or dosage, although I suspect it may have helped a few older people on the way... What makes my blood boil, is those adverts about going to see your Pharmacist before going to A & E. Half the time my local Chemist is shut, because they only have locum Pharmacists...
we have changed my parents way of getting their prescriptions as someone thing always went wrong. They now have it delivered. The prescription is sent directly to the pharmacy, they fill it and then it is delivered. they never have to wait around for it or go to the Dr to get the script and have problems if they dont have it. Can you do this? save you time and effort
We can't have ours delivered as they won't deliver to a boat.
Those of us who have worked all our lives until retirement have made a substantial contribution to the healthcare system whereas those who don't work reap all the benefits without having contributed. Sadly now we're retired we find we're thought of as being a burden to the NHS and are made to feel worthless to society. Those of us who are unpaid carers to a spouse are saving this country millions of pounds yet what system is in place to care for carer's needs? There isn't one.
Personally I'm very thankful for the NHS even though it's rapidly declining and has many failings. My husband is on eight different medications per day, if we had to still pay for prescriptions I dread to think of what our situation would be. There is much inefficiency in the NHS and we also complain when our prescriptions aren't right or missing or delayed but isn't that the way of so many businesses these days when we're promised things that don't happen? Four times this week I've been promised a return phone call which hasn't happened and that's four different businesses. I'll be spending yet more time relating the situation to yet another different disinterested person.
It's a shame you can't have your medications delivered to your boat. Don't they know it's your only and permanent address? Surely they could arrange something where you give a password to take receipt of the items?
Mindo above - I believe the NHS are cutting down on prescriptions for those items which can be easily bought. There's also a general feeling that why should foodstuffs be got on prescription when others (pensioners and people in poverty included) have to purchase their own food. I'm sure we'd all like free food!
I'm sure you've already looked into this but isn't it possible to have the script collected by a local pharmacy and made up so you just have one trip to the pharmacy to collect it? Or better still get them delivered? (Not much use if the GP get the medication wrong though) My mom uses this service, she phones Superdrug and tells them what she needs, they order a script from the GP, put it all into blister packs for her and deliver and it's free.
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