Nhs Paperless Prescriptions.

[EDDIE51]

Not a question more for information. Prompted by a question on repeat prescriptions.
http://systems.hscic.gov.uk/eps
All NHS prescriptions will soon be paperless , electronically transmitted direct to your choice of Pharmacy.

[dannyk13]

Jack, I get Tramadol delivered by electronic prescription along with other items which have to be signed for as having been delivered not specifically because of the Tramadol.

[Jackdaw33]

danny, are you in England? Last month I ordered my repeat prescription. When I collected it from the surgery all it had was Tramadol. When I asked where the rest were I was told that they had been sent electronically but they couldn't do that with the Tramadol as either I or the chemist had to sign for it.

[dannyk13]

I'm a Yorkshire Tyke Jack, very much in England.If I need a repeat prescription I contact the chemist with my requirements and they are delivered a couple of days later.

[Jackdaw33]

Strange. Wonder why it's different in Yorkshire from Tyneside. Will query that next time.

[dannyk13]

Maybe,as you were informed, the chemist signs for it.

[Jackdaw33]

I was just thinking that. So it would be a paper prescription, then.

[dannyk13]

I can't see that the chemist would use both paper and electronic prescriptions.I signed up for electronic prescriptions some months ago.

[EDDIE51]

Old Geezer , You tell them which pharmacy you want when you go to the surgery, you can keep the same one as before or ask for it to be sent to a different one.

[Jackdaw33]

I think they do. My chemist told me that if I wanted Tramadol they would pick up the prescription form the surgery.

[Sqad]

I understand that the Spanish Salud (NHS)does not have the same high standards of the NHS (UK) but for a least 5 years or possibly more, your medication is stored electronically on your health card, which is like a small credit card) which you can take to any pharmacist in Spanish territories to obtain your drugs.

[stuey]

I see many posts on here mentioning "repeat prescriptions". Here, in Ontario, a great many doctors will not give you repeats. For example, I take four different pills for high BP, and he wants to see me every three months to give me a check over, and then he will give me a new prescription to last another three months.

[bhg481]

Same sort of system in the UK Stuey. Some prescriptions need a regular review and won't be issued without a visit to the GP. My wife has to have an annual review for her BP since it's been consistent for many years. If you have a change of dose or a change in circumstances fewer advance prescriptions will be issued.

[RATTER15]

I can use any Pharmacy I want, I just select the pharmacy I want collect from when I order my meds online.

[bhg481]

I think I might have misunderstood your question Stuey. I sounds like you are given one prescription for 3 months' supply of tablets; in the UK you would be given 3 prescriptions each for one month's tablets.

[dannyk13]

BHG, that can vary, some of my prescriptions are for two months supply and others for one month.

[stuey]

Bhg481, I take 4 different types of pill, and he gives me a three month's supply of each. So yes, I get four prescriptions each check up.

[bhg481]

That's an interesting way of doing it Stuey. Each of my wife's prescriptions has all her items on it (2 for BP, 2 for eye problem), so she gets 12 prescriptions each with 4 items on it. No-one in the NHS seems to realise that there are 13 lunar months in a year, so 12 prescriptions only last 11 calendar months.
Danny - my wife's are all for 28 days' supply of tablets or bottles of eye-drops which should be binned after 28 days' use, so no 2-month size available.
I think the NHS system is designed such that if you pop your clogs before the next prescription issue there is never more than 1 month's supply of medication wasted.

[woofgang]

OG read my post at 21.02

[cupotee2]

Tramadol are a controlled drug so have to be signed for.

I order my own and husbands prescriptions online every 4 weeks. Its sent electronically to the Pharmacy and delivered to our door a few days later.

Not always as ideal as it sounds as for some reason the secretaries dealing with prescriptions often include items we haven't used in a while but not removed from the list.
If we send them back were told they can't re-issue that item as its left the Pharmacy.

I am quite happy to purchase simple painkillers over the counter as well as sun creams etc. A lot of waste comes from the surgery itself not always the patients..IMO