Hi
@SaskiaKC
Sometimes the Specialists will write out your first prescription, or they will send a letter to your GP telling your GP what they recommend (I always ask for a copy of that letter from the Specialist), but then to carry on getting that medicine, your own GP then has to write out the prescription on a monthly basis. But your own GP may not prescribe that medicine or treatment at all, or your own GP (this has also happened to me) will say I am not prescribing that medicine/s but I am prescribing something different. In one particular instance these different ones were absolutely useless for me. There was a reason the Specialist had chosen these 3 medicines to work in conjunction with each other (they had done the tests, biopsy etc).
NOW, I only knew my GP has prescribed different medication than the Specialist had recommended because I had asked for a copy of the letter the Specialist sent to my GP.. Otherwise I would never have known that my GP was not following the the Specialist's recommendations. And consequently I would have assumed that the Specialist was useless because the meds didn't work for me. BUT, I had the Specialist's letter so I knew I was getting different medicines than she recommended. My GP refused to follow the Specialist's recommendations. So that was me back to the Specialist again, and she was very helpful phoning my GP, many times, who was being very obtuse. More letters outlining precise reasons why I needed these 3 meds in conjunction with each other (I have copies of all these). Finally I got them from my GP. That is not the end of the story.
Same GP a year or so later, changed them all to useless medicines, not the ones that were recommended. But original Specialist had left by this time. I had all the original letters, so went back to GP, GP refused. So I employed a Patient's Advocate again. Took a few months of back and forth. Got the meds I needed, the ones that been recommended. BUT a few months later my GP changed one of them back to the useless medicine. This can be soul destroying, but I think by this time you might have gathered that if the 'fight' is reasonable, and the 'goal' is reasonable for all concerned, then I never give up.
So this time I approached the pharmacist and explained what had happened. I use the same pharmacy all the time so he knows everything anyway, my pharmacist is very useful and has been the one over the years to tell me how to proceed. Anyway, my pharmacist looked the med up, and explained that the GP has certain lists on their computer which says what medicines they can order. The GP cannot order just any medicine, if it is not on his computer he cannot order it, only the nearest approximation that is on his computer. So, the pharmacist explained to me, that my GP would need to separately hand write the prescription needed for this particular prescribing that I needed and had been recommended by the specialist. And said good luck to me because my GP would be resistant to that. So I went to the Practice Manager of my GP surgery, and put all this to him, and a few words and phrases the pharmacist suggested I used (my pharmacist has been very good to me over the years suggesting how I can keep the conversation with my GP or surgery on an even keel, which can be linking hard when you are trying to fight your corner). Anyway I got my med back.
I'm on my soapbox again, aren't I?
Well, one reason I am explaining this and my previous reply to
@SaskiaKC at length is to explain the vagaries of the Specialist and GP system. A lot of people/patients don't understand the GP doesn't necessarily follow the Specialist's recommendations. The reason why people/patients do not know this, is because they do not have a copy of the initial letter of investigations and recommendations the Specialist has sent to their GP.
You have to specifically ASK for that letter from your Specialist on that final visit. It is not sent automatically to the patient.
I am constantly telling people/friends to ask for this copy letter from the Specialist. And I get 'oh I forgot' or some excuse, and then when they start grumbling to me at a later date because of problems with their GP's stopping their prescribed meds etc, (and there is so much of that in the area where I live, all the GP's in this area do not have a good reputation for many things), I tell them they should have asked for that Specialist letter in the first place.
Okay I will get off my soapbox now on this...but I hope I might have helped in some way for someone who reads this...
