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Practical Advice Pharmacy in the UK that won't dispense meds

may71

may71

mr. may
#1
#1
I have a friend in the UK who has been off of her meds for three weeks. Her pharmacy is 32 miles away from where she now lives, and though she has a car, she doesn't have the money for tax and insurance.

She's staying at a hostel, and they are taking all of her universal credit money. Getting there by bus is also a problem.

She has tried to switch to a new pharmacy closer to her, but the new pharmacy has refused to dispense any medication to her whatsoever, on the grounds that there is an overdose risk noted in her medical file. Her GP has contacted them and told them it's ok to dispense the medication, but they are still refusing.

She doesn't have the energy to fight with the pharmacy. She's also starting to believe that she doesn't need meds anymore (some of the medication she is getting is for bipolar disorder).

Her care coordinator apparently knows that she's off meds, but has only responded by saying "it will effect how you feel".

Any advice on what to do? I've been trying to convince her to contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service, but I haven't had any success in convincing her so far.

@Ash600

@Sunspots
 
Inastorm

Inastorm

SF Supporter
#2
#2
@may71
I live in the UK. I haven't heard of this issue before from a pharmacy, I would be very surprised if the GP can't over ride this, as the pharmacy is an independent businesses (well most of them are), they should just dispense the prescription that the GP gives them or the patient gives them.

Do you know if the pharmacy is independent (like Boots or Lloyds) or an National Health Service (NHS) pharmacy? Either way the GP should be able to get the prescription arranged at a closer pharmacy for her. It's actually an Adult Protection issue otherwise and you could phone social work about this (England or Wales, might be different in Scotland).
 
Inastorm

Inastorm

SF Supporter
#5
#5
may71 said:
Would I be able to do this on her behalf? I'm an American btw, so I don't know if that would effect this.

Do you know what number I would be able to call?
Click to expand...
Google adult social work and the county/ area she lives in, for example adult social work Blackpool. Ring social work and ask to be put through to adult safe guarding and log the concern you have with them. Without your friends consent, they wont be able to give you any information or the outcome, but you can get it logged without her consent. Ideally I would get consent, as they will speak to her about the concern.
 
Ash600

Ash600

Of dust and shadows
SF Creative
SF Supporter
#6
#6
UK pharmacies are allowed to refuse to dispense NHS prescriptions under circumstances, including if there is a risk of overdose. Statutory frameowrks are in place to allow for this. I should stress however that there is a professional obligation to refer the patient to either another pharmacy or healthcare provider (eg GP) and not just to leave them in limbo.

Not wishing to go into the intricacies of the 'script itself but if alarms were raised at the pharmacy end, then perhaps a review of the quantity to dispensed can be reviewed by the GP surgery to a shorter period of time eg 7 days.

However, that's by the by. Advocacy would be the best bet eg PALS or as already mentioned, adult social services. I would say her care coordinator but from their response, they seem rather pisspoor. Problem of course is the issue of consent.

Her pharmacy is 32 miles away. You may wish to check for alternative pharmacies within the area if you know your friend's postcode :
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/pharmacies/
 
may71

may71

mr. may
#7
#7
Thank you @Inastorm and @Ash600

She doesn't want me to contact adult social work because she's afraid it might lead to a safeguarding referral, which might lead to police involvement and involuntary hospitalization.

I'll try to convince her to try another pharmacy, or to contact PALS.

The care coordinator might not be of much use, but it might not hurt to contact her anyway.
 
may71

may71

mr. may
#8
#8
Ash600 said:
then perhaps a review of the quantity to dispensed can be reviewed by the GP surgery to a shorter period of time eg 7 days
Click to expand...
The period has already been shortened to 7 days. She also tried contacting another pharmacy, but they claim they can't get the medication she has been prescribed.

I'm starting to suspect that she's being seen as a patient that the pharmacies don't want to deal with, so they may be trying to dodge her.
 
Ash600

Ash600

Of dust and shadows
SF Creative
SF Supporter
#9
#9
may71 said:
The period has already been shortened to 7 days. She also tried contacting another pharmacy, but they claim they can't get the medication she has been prescribed.

I'm starting to suspect that she's being seen as a patient that the pharmacies don't want to deal with, so they may be trying to dodge her.
Click to expand...
Problems with the medical supply chain could be a local issue so hard to verify if this is a valid enough reason.....

Because of her reluctance to allow you to act fully on her behalf, you've got one if not two hands tied behind your back due to issues around patient consent. You might get some joy from the advocacy groups found here towards the bottom of the page

https://www.nhs.uk/social-care-and-...arities/someone-to-speak-up-for-you-advocate/
 
L

Lifeisthis

Well-Known Member
#14
#14
may71 said:
I have a friend in the UK who has been off of her meds for three weeks. Her pharmacy is 32 miles away from where she now lives, and though she has a car, she doesn't have the money for tax and insurance.

She's staying at a hostel, and they are taking all of her universal credit money. Getting there by bus is also a problem.

She has tried to switch to a new pharmacy closer to her, but the new pharmacy has refused to dispense any medication to her whatsoever, on the grounds that there is an overdose risk noted in her medical file. Her GP has contacted them and told them it's ok to dispense the medication, but they are still refusing.

She doesn't have the energy to fight with the pharmacy. She's also starting to believe that she doesn't need meds anymore (some of the medication she is getting is for bipolar disorder).

Her care coordinator apparently knows that she's off meds, but has only responded by saying "it will effect how you feel".

Any advice on what to do? I've been trying to convince her to contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service, but I haven't had any success in convincing her so far.

@Ash600

@Sunspots
Click to expand...
I feel terrible for your friend. Someone should really help her im waiting for someone else to reply with better answer but I feel terrible for her and hope she's ok
 
Ash600

Ash600

Of dust and shadows
SF Creative
SF Supporter
#16
#16
may71 said:
She's found one quietapine. She wants to cut it into four pieces. I'm advising her to just take the whole thing, but I don't know if anyone has any advice about this.

@Ash600
@Butterfly
Click to expand...
It's the modified release formulations (XL or prolonged release in this case) that you do not want to split. Standard or immediate release or generally in this case is fine to do so though this may not be mentioned within the SPCs of some of the manufacturers of this med. It's therefore considered to be a "off-label" thing so would be considered to be outside the product licence. Having said that, formularies within some local NHS areas will allow for this when dose flexibility is needed. Key of course, is adhering to the guidelines which therefore means input from the prescriber.

In this particular case, splitting the tab and taking a quarter at a time? Not advisable due to the likelihood of taking a sub-optimal therapeutic single dose relevant to the patient.
 
may71

may71

mr. may
#20
#20
She tried a third pharmacy but got the same response, they won't dispense because of risk of prescription.

The potentially good news is that her care coordinator contacted her and said she thought she would be able to get her medication straightened out by Friday.

She has an appointment scheduled with her care co on Friday which she won't be able to attend; I don't know if the help her care co is offering is dependent on her going to the appointment.
 
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