General Chat

Home delivery isn't possible in Scotland (apart from by local groups such as the charity Florence mentioned, who physically collect the meds from the GP or pharmacy) because in Scotland prescriptions are still on paper only.

The national home delivery services, such as Lloyds, or Royal Mail/Pharmacy2U, need online prescriptions.

However, this link seems to hold out some hope for the (distant ?) future:
https://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/nes-current/scotland-s-new-digital-prescribing-and-dispensing-programme/


https://www.bordertelegraph.com/news/20628151.archaic-prescription-system-scotland-needs-addressed-says-councillor/

Florence

I get an email from Lloyds direct to say my meds are running low and to log into my account on their website and tick the boxes for repeat prescription

That’s all I do

From then Lloyds contacts the doctors surgery ,they send the prescription to Lloyds who dispense it themselves and send out by Royal Mail

It works really well

But it seems your location isn’t in the area they cover unfortunately

:-D :-D :-D :@ Pat..

Yes we are still on paper prescriptions not online

I see Shirley but who picks up the cost of sending it via Royal mail? I cannot believe its all done for free?

Florence in the hebrides

Florence

I don’t pay for postage and packing so don’t know how it’s recovered


Lloyds direct say they absorb the costs at no cost to the nhs

There’s another online pharmacy

Pharmacy2U, the UK's largest NHS online pharmacy, has secured a further £40 million investment to support the rapid growth of its online NHS repeat prescription service. This financing is led by G Square, a London-based private equity firm with an investment strategy dedicated to healthcare in Europe.



https://www.pharmacy2u.co.uk/prescriptions/electronic-prescription-service-nhs

Pharmacy2U also works with Royal Mail - but also is not for anyone registered with a GP in Scotland.

This looks promising, Florence. It might be worth investigating. It's Nicola Sturgeon announcing that Scotland has gone digital with prescriptions!!

https://tinyurl.com/yctnramd

Andysmum -
unfortunately, that article is dated 2009, when Nicola was still Scottish Health Secretary.
There is an electronic system between GPs, hospitals, and pharmacies - but it's not a digital prescription system as in England which the delivery companies demand.

From the 2022 Border Telegraph link I posted yesterday :

"Paperless prescription is a myth in Scotland.

“All prescriptions in Scotland have to be on paper as they still require a ‘wet signature’.

“The Scottish Government has not sorted out a system for electronic signatures, despite saying they will for more than a decade. This means that a prescriber has to hand sign the prescription.

“It does not ‘depend on GP practice and local pharmacies wishing to do so’. The prescription has to be printed and signed, there isn’t a choice.

“In 2019/20 106 million prescriptions were issued. I am not aware of any journalist picking up on the fact that we have such an archaic system in Scotland.”

Dr Begg – of the Liberal Democrats – said at his practice, patients with repeat prescriptions can use an email system which removes the need to hand the repeat form in at a chemist, but it is not ETP.

In a further comment Ms Grahame, of the SNP, added that NHS Scotland utilises an electronic prescription message between GP practices and community pharmacies which runs in parallel with paper prescriptions.

Ms Grahame said: “However, the use of paper prescriptions is still a necessity at this stage as a legal requirement."

A Scottish Government spokesperson added: “Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP) has been operating in Scotland since 2006 alongside paper prescriptions which are a legal requirement until advanced electronic signatures are established.




Start nagging your MSP, Florence, and get them to raise the matter in First Minister's Questions!

And/or email Nicola directly:
[email protected]

Then start a petition to the Scottish parliament:
https://petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/check

That'll teach me to look at things more carefully! :-|

ArgyllGran, thankyou for that info. I just may email NS when i get 5 minutes. If you dont ask, you dont get!

Florence in the hebrides

OH decided to go to the village pharmacy to get his prescription filled. He wasn’t in a hurry for it.
Good thing too, as it was shut with no idea when it would open ( there was no pharmacist). Luckily he is going into town tomorrow and can get it done there.

Oh dear names, just as well it wasn't urgent.
So I have just emailed our Local MSP and await his reply.

Watch this space!

Florence in the hebrides

Well, my local charity has decided they will be able to collect my meds for me. They will only be going once a week not 3 times and for only people like me who are really stuck. They tel me a few days ago.
I offered to pay but they said no need and were happy to assist.

Such a relief to know, I'm all sorted.

I did not yet get a reply from my local MSP! Too busy probably fighting for IndyRef2!

Florence in the Hebrides

As a Charity I would suppose they ca’t expect people to pay for the service, but wouldn’t they accept a donation to funds?

I have a confession to make.
My last few jobs were coding responses to 'consultations' held by Hampshire Country Council. 'Coding' is essentially, putting the responses in a series of predicted response columns on a spreadsheet.
I have to admit, if I found 3 or more people had responded in a way that wasn't on the spreadsheet, I asked for it to be added.

One of these 'consultations' was to cut funding to charities that helped the elderly.
These were 'charities' like day centres, mini-buses that took those unable to use buses, or in very rural locations, to the shops, and on outings, and charities that ran 'taxis' to take people to GP and hospital appointments. There were also charitable groups that helped those without internet access to get access to the internet etc., and those who delivered prescriptions.

Most of these charities needed funding, as their vehicles need servicing more than private cars, for insurance purposes. Also, those involved (drivers, volunteers etc) needed yearly DBS checks. I also know that about 10 years ago, Hampshire County Council started paying the mini-bus drivers, as volunteers didn't necessarily have to turn up!

Well, there were about 1,200 responses. Not bad, considering the 'consultation' wasn't advertised very well, and many older folk don't have/use the internet.
The majority were against the cuts. I would say, about 10 people agreed with the cuts - as they didn't need them - yet!

The cuts went ahead, as the result obviously meant nothing. They'd held the 'consultation', so legally could go ahead with the cuts.
This is happening all over the UK.
The Government is cutting funding to Councils year on year.
The Councils get the blame for the cuts they make, but the Councils also appear to be focussing on cutting funding to the most vulnerable.

Other 'consultations' were to cut funding to home to school transport for special needs children, and to cut funding for the homeless, and victims of domestic abuse.

During all these cuts, Hampshire County Council paid for a statue of 'Licoricia' (anyone heard of her?) to be put created, and up outside the 'library', which had been overhauled about 10 years ago and renamed 'The Discovery Centre', and in 'honour' of this statue, had been overhauled again, and renamed 'The Arc'.

With each 'transformation' the number of books in what was the library goes down.

So, you can see where Hampshire County Councils priorities lie - and it's not with the most vulnerable - and, as I said - this is happening all over the country :-|

So much of work done by politicians is hidden. They don’t like it so hav to build/open wonderful looking things or shout out, in sometimes inappropriate language, so that they get the headlines. Whilst the general public would prefer them to get on the their jobs and allocate monies fairly.

Every now and again we get the opportunity to let them know how we feel.

The local charity is also a local business. They do get some income from lottery grants but also, they generate income from a wind turbine which has been very successful.

So, they are financially secure. I do however get my grass cut every 2 weeks and I pay them for that service.

Maggie, local services here were cut down and then they erected a huge wooden highland cow in the town on grassland. A bronze statue of a herring girl near the harbour and various other ridiculous things that cost a fortune, could be better spent on essential services. The local bus office is not open full time, so if it's raining and you are waiting on a bus, there is nowhere to wait under cover or if you needed the loo etc... No, they reduced the hours its opened to save money.

Then last year, they decided to illuminate council buildings every night in December up to midnight!!! Hardly anyone about in town during the week at that late hour. So, what a waste of electricity and the council claim they have no money.

Why also do schools need to be lit up all night until midnight with floodlights in town and rural areas? Surely, they can have security lights that only come on when something walks past the light. With the price hike now, I wonder if the town will be all lit up this winter?

Let's not forget when our council lost 23 million in the BCCI fiasco in the 90's!
Sums it all up really doesn't it.

Florence in the Hebrides

But if they are able to help even with a donation then it’s a win win all round

Yes Shirley, they are lovely and do an awful lot for this area. You need to be living in the catchment area to benefit from their services.

They do an awful lot that the local council should really be doing!

In view of the PO strikes and how little post that is getting through daily here, I am glad I don't have online prescriptions! I was speaking to our post lady yesterday and she said, priority is being given to the likes of Amazon parcels etc and not to letters or smaller packages???? Says it all!

Florence in the Hebrides