Surgery stopped my medication

Hi everyone; I have a big problem with my surgery. My wife went last Monday to order my medication (repeat prescription) and the receptionist told her that they will be ready on Wednesday in my pharmacy. I am on Sinemet Plus; Azilect; Trihexyphenidyl. I went to my pharmacy on Friday and they told me they have nothing for me because they didn't receive any prescription. I phoned the surgery and they told me that my repeat prescription has been cancelled by a lady; later they said by Mr.P [name edited by moderator]. It was very strange. Later my wife phoned them as I was so shocked and depressed. This Mr. p [name edited by moderator] told her that they will not give me any more medication until 28.december! She told him that I don't have any more pills; they will finish on Monday. 'Mr P' [name edited by moderator] said that he doesn't care; that probably she is a bad carer to me or I am a druggie who eats too many pills and it is our problem. We sat in big shock and checked all the boxes of pills. We noticed that they were giving me every month pills for 28days instead of 30 or 31 days so each month I had to start next boxes earlier... It is clear that it was their mistake not me being a druggie or my wife a bad carer. I am going to complaint about it. I feel upset, mistreated and have a lot of stress now from this situation.My left hand tremor is out of control now.What should I do? Any advice please?

I would suggest you ask to talk to your GP asap as you cannot run out! Sounds like someone doesn't understand the importance of PD meds. Who is Mr P? [name edited by moderator] is he your doctor? Perhaps the pharmacy who have supplied you with your prescriptions could help you sort it out too....

Phone the PUK hotline as they can give you advice on how to get it sorted out. Contact your Parkinons's nurse?

You should definitely lodge a complaint and as you have evidence of them prescribing for 28 days (you said you checked all the boxes  pills at home) and not for a calendar month that should help solve the problem.

My Mum had an big issue once with her meds and incorrect prescribing and the pharmacist and nurse on teh end of the PUK helpline were both very helpful, and listened to me when I was in a real panic.

Not sure of the timings of the helpline but as it is a meds issue I am sure they will put you in touch with a nurse quickly for support if your pharmacy/ surgery can't help......

Will be thinking of you, and hope you find a pro-active helper tomorrow..

Keld

 

Helpline is Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm

0800 800 0303

I am sure they will give good advice...

Keld

Hope you were able to sort things out today, have been thinking of you.

Thanks Keld. Your posts helped a lot. I called PD helpline and they were helpful; I wrote an official complaint to my surgery.My pharmacy helped me and ordered those pills as an emergency even than Mr.P [name edited by moderator] tried to cancell it. But my pharmacist is intelligent and knows that I really need them so I got them this evening. On Wednesday I will talk with practice manager about it and hopefully will find out who the hell is this MrP [name edited by moderator]...

This sounds really scary - like Big Brother is Watching. Hope you can find out what is going on very soon. What happens if you need larger quantity of meds, say if you are going away on holiday? I feel really vulnerable if my meds get low and always re-order well before I need them. My GP has never queried this. They are essential meds and I could not function without them.

S

Thank goodness for sensible pharmacists....you have to let me know the end of the story about the elusive -  Mr P!

When the prescription was cancelled you should have been told!!  Mr P should have got in touch to tell you what he was doing....

you could have asked for a repeat for a number of reasons such as;

you were taking the drugs correctly and needed a new lot;

or  - as he seemed to think you were consuming them too fast;

or you had dropped them down the loo by accident;

or the dog ate them;

or you lost them;

Mr P had no idea and therefore no right to cancel without talking with you first!!

You should not have been left to find out when you turned up to collect the drugs!!

I am cross on your behalf! As a result of what happened to my Mum and her meds I am hoping to be able to contibute (through PUK) to supporting the correct management of medications for those with PD - I'd like to add this example to the list of things I think need to be included in the policy on correct procedures to be followed.

Well said Keld! Please keep on campaigning (and being cross) for us all.

S

OH's prescriptions are always for 28 days, not a calendar month, and until recently I always put in for a  repeat precription  in good time.......BEFORE WE WERE DOWN TO THE LAST TABLET.

 

Recently, our surgery will NOT precribe until the very last day of the previous 28 day prescription,and, on another post, you can see what happened when the requested medication was then NOT available for another 11 days. We don't hoard medication but I like to know that we have at least a few days in hand as the  pharmacy often, despite the same meds being needed EVERY month, has to order them, which means returning a day or two later by which time we would be completely out of them.

GP's need to be educated in the fact that PWP cannot be without their medication and knowing that they have taken their very last tablet, and with no more to hand, can be very stressful for both them and their carer. A PUK campaign to educate GP's that PWP NEED their medication to be regular and a few days extra on hand. If I am unwell I cannot expect anyone to endlessly visit the surgery/pharmacy.

When asking for extra meds as we were going on holiday I put in a repeat prescription stating exactly why for both of us. They doubled MY meds which I had not asked for,but not OH's and I literally had to go to the surgery each day for 5 days to sort this out.It's a 48 hour turn over for repeats and they wanted me to wait   another 48 hours even though it was their mistake, hence it took a week!

 

hTankfull I had a few days   of OH's medication in hand at home.

Benji - you wrote "on another post, you can see what happened when the requested medication was not available for another 11 days" can you let me know which post that is in? I'll read it and add it to my collection of examples of medication procedures going wrong....to support the work for a policy on medication management procedures....

Krzysiek98 put his repeat prescription in a week before his tablets ran out...plenty of time!

I'm looking forward to hearing all about Mr P!! and what his role in the story was all about!!

Keld

Will do!!

Keld

I will have a meeting with practice manager and Mr.P next Wednesday so I will let you know :)

Good luck with the meeting! "Wear your power shoes!!" Advice given to me by an aunt when I had to meet with the doctors about my Mum's medication fiasco. (Not sure it helped but it gave me something to smile about when I noticed that one of them had badly scuffed shoes...)

Keld

I had a similar situation solved by doing the following Ensure the 28 x daily rate matches the 28 day total tablets provided. I found the main problem was my prescription was for fewer tablets than I needed. Get yourself in a managed service by a trusted Chemist. They will chase for prescriptions. Don't miss 6mth / 28 week reviews as your GP is technically prohibited from continuing to issue prescriptions without evidence your condition still warrants it. This stops people becoming hooked on drugs with no safety net. Check your PD nurse or specialist prescribed meds have been added in to your surgery list. See your GP and say you need a one off set of 28 days meds as a buffer for mislaid meds. Meds in the various homes you visit. The Chemist not having enough stock and holidays or days you can't get out to collect as the 28 days is from the last time they were dispensed so being a little late can build up. The practice managers are under pressure to reduce wasted meds and a meeting with them or a PD UK communication to every surgery and chemist by email and helplines may be enough for them to realise Parkinsons requires more lateral thinking than the average illness they deal with.

Excellent ideas Kendo...have put them on my list of good practice for meds management for PwP.

I can't understand why the pharmacists and GP'd and neuro's can't think along these lines...

From all the posts on this forum that mention trouble with repeat prescriptions there must be lots of others that we don't know about ----- that makes for loads of stressed Pharmacists trying to sort problems out!!

 

Hope the meeting went OK today.

:)

Hi Keld, sorry for a late reply.

It was on a thread that I started titled, "Requip XL supply problrem."

 

 

 

Thanks everyone for your responses. On that meeting in my surgery only practice manager came; Mr.P. didn't show up. Anyway practice manager apologized and said that from now on she will change the system that if someone's pills will be stoped they will get text massage or phone call asap. She said that Mr. P. behaviour was out of line and he didn't have a real reason to cancel my pills. I felt ok after that meeting because at least she was nice and admit their mistake..

Interesting that Mr P didn't turn up......

Not the best way for you to have contributed to a change for the better in the system followed by your GP surgery! (wonder how often it has happened to others?)

Hopefully - they will also have changed the procedure that they follow for even thinking about cancelling a repeat prescription!! (and that they make sure Mr P reads it!!)

Glad you were able to talk to the practice manager and that they apologised to you.

A good result!

I think I missed a bit....who is this Mr P who wields such power?

GG