My husband has quite severe PD and is dependent on me for all his needs. We lived 400 miles away from close family and I was struggling. The support was minimal, a call from a nurse if I had a melt down, which I did when I was taken ill and my husband had no warm food for a couple of days. He had water and biscuits. So with family help we moved.
We are now in an area where we know no one. I have contacted the local branch, however,The lady replied and sounds lovely.
The problem is the lack of medical care. I registered with a GP immediately. The registration took 4 weeks. We still haven’t heard from a doctor or nurse. The PD nurses are based at the same surgery. To make matters worse they sent his prescription to the previous chemist 400 miles away by mistake. They cannot guarantee my husband will get medication any time soon. When I showed myself up by crying in the surgery, I was told to stop worrying. We run out of Madopar on Tuesday.
Any advice?
Hello ma64 I must confess I was both horrified and extremely angry on your behalf when I read your post. To say they cannot guarantee he will get medication any time soon when your husband has Parkinson’s and will not be able to function without it and to tell you to stop worrying when clearly and understandably upset beggars belief. I suggest you contact your husband’s consultant as a matter of urgency - telephone his or her secretary so you can explain it fully, I would myself, also be tempted to send an email to the consultant this weekend marked urgent and ask him or her to make contact and send via the secretary so that it might be brought to their attention promptly - you may get a call from before you ring. I would also encourage you to ring the helpline to see what they advise.
I hope this gets sorted soon, I only wish I could do more
Take care.
Tot
Thats absolutely unbelievable!!!
my heart goes out to you. Can another prescription be made for a nearer chemist.? After all it’s their mistake?
Maybe we should all write a letter to this surgery and put some pressure on them.
please stay in touch with us daily , so we can give you a virtual hug
Esme x
Wear about are you in county surely wot about parkinsons uk couldn’t thay help you
Phone the infamous 111 and insist they get an out of hours doctor to issue prescription somewhere you can get it!
That is appalling, my heart goes out to you.
Xx
Contact your surgery and ask for your husband to be made a priority patient and also contact 111 if you do run out. Have been in this position several times. The dispensing team need to understand your husband cannot move without his meds. Their purpose is to prevent medical emergencies to reduce pressure on the NHS NOT increase demand. Good luck soldier!!
Also if you do not get satisfactory response ask for contact details of your local CCG to make a formal complaint. The surgery have a duty of care towards your husband. I suspect this is extreme officiousness by dispensing staff with no knowledge of the complexity and seriousness of PD. They need educating !!!
Thank you all for your support. We managed to get the medication just in time. We had little contact from the gp for weeks, then we heard from the local parkinson’s nurse, she is wonderful. She referred my husband to a neurologist (we haven’t seen a consultant since 2018), also we have referrals for physiotherapy and for cognitive testing. A new bed side was installed the following day and his medication has been modified.
The nurse also gently told me to stop wanting my husband back to how he was but to accept life as it is and to prepare for the future. Not easy but she is right. Sometimes though there is a glint in his eyes showing he is still there.