Post by Pennyscrawled in the dust...
Post by FennyOur GP has a pharmacy, despite being all of a couple of hundred yards
from the nearest chemist shop. At one point, the GP pharmacy wasn't
allowed to dispense to those who lived in the town, only from the
outlying villages, but it changed at least 3 years ago.
Ours is similar, although the nearest commercial pharmacy is next door -
always seemed very odd to me. Less so since they no longer hold the scripts
there for collection but send them straight to the pharmacy the patient has
designated. This actually caused major problems for that nearest one who
had insufficient space or staff to deal with the sudden increase in trade.
I, like many, have now switched to the one in the supermarket where it is
much easier to park and the opening hours are better but I miss some of the
friendly pharmacists who work at Lloyds.
Under our previous system where I could request repeat prescriptions
via email [1], I could designate one of the pharmacies in town to pick
up my medication [2] from.
Under our new system, where I had to query why I hadn't been given a
repeat prescription in the first place, I get a slip of paper in the
bag with the latest meds which tells me how many more times I can
request each item [3]. I can take that bit of paper to any of the
pharmacies I like. It just so happens that the GP surgery is 100
yards from the council building and I'm more likely to remember to
pass it on the way to or from work [4] than to go into any of the
places in town while I'm on my lunchtime coffee expedition.
[1] That was 18 years ago. Things have "improved" since then, such
that we can no longer do this.
[2] I was going to put "drugs", but it made it sound like some kind of
shady deal.
[3] But it doesn't tell me what happens, as now, when I request the
last batch. Will I be called in for a medication check, or is the
number just reset? EMNTK [5]
[4] Having forgotten to take it in at lunchtime, I remembered as I
left work and just happened to be walking that way on the way to my
class, so took the 40 yard detour on the way to the community centre.
[5] I guess I'll find out next week when I remember to pick it up.
--
Fenny