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Prescription hold ups

B

Bea24

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Type 3
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi
I have been trying to get my GP to give me a new Novopen for 3 weeks without any luck. I take fiasp and my pen has started to stick when dialing in my units. Why does everything to do with managing my diabetes seem to be a battle at the moment?
 
Does it have to be from the gp or can your dn at the practice give you one? What about asking at a pharmacy ? During my last uk visit I lost my pen and totally failed to get a replacement but I was advised that I could try a&e. I made do with syringes which I could easily buy.

And in New Zealand my pharmacy just give me a new pen whenever I break or lose the old one, no questions asked.

Good luck and I feel your pain
 
Bea24 said:
Why does everything to do with managing my diabetes seem to be a battle at the moment?
Click to expand...
Because most GPs do not understand T1 management?
Because GPs are too widely spread and don't have time for anything, not just diabetes?
 
Bea24 said:
Hi
I have been trying to get my GP to give me a new Novopen for 3 weeks without any luck. I take fiasp and my pen has started to stick when dialing in my units. Why does everything to do with managing my diabetes seem to be a battle at the moment?
Click to expand...
Can you speak to your DSN instead and get them to give you one or contact your GP for you to sort this ?
 
I haven't had a DSN since 2018 and have rang my GP 6 times in 3 weeks to be told they will do it each time. Just wonder if they are hoping I will resort to A&E.
 
Not as crucial as your novopen but my surgery told me I had to pay for my own lancing pen , except they didn’t immediately I waited weeks before finding out what the hold up was and they said I couldn’t have one from them. They last gave me one when I was diagnosed 5 years ago. Thankfully it was £1.20 but I was a bit surprised.
 
My Gp's provided a prescription without trouble but the local pharmacy's couldn't locate any Novo pens so I wrote to Novo and their reply was like talking to an A1 robot.
 
I saw a specialist a week ago, sent an instruction to the GP to prescribe insulin the same day electronically and my prescription still isn’t ready
 
There are definitely issues and inconsistencies around dispensing Insulin Pens for people, as there are for getting people on to systems like the Freestyle system. I suspect - but cannot prove - that it is all to do with GP budgets as, if I am correct, these are charged back to the local practice budget and are not always cheap (my eldest son - also T1 - had to buy a Freestyle sensor whilst on holiday after he had his pulled off his arm; the local pharmacy charged £60 for a single sensor...). I noted with dismay that NICE (I'm guessing) have also removed blood testing meter sensors off repeat prescriptions for Type 2 diabetics as well, probably for much the same reason. If ever there was a route to people suffering poor overall control then that has to be up there with the best of them!
As for your isse, then I would revert back to the Hospital where your specialist is and complain there about the lack of availability of a Novopen, and continue to write - and visit in person demanding to see the Practice manager - until this is resolved. Patience and strong persistence in equal measure seems to be the only way to get success in the NHS these days!
 
I do not have a named specialist but have contacted my local Diabetes service so fingers crossed they can do something. Originally I was supposed to be given 2 pens for this very reason, but my GPs only prescribed one. I am just fed up with having to chase up everything connected with managing this bloody disease.
 
My pens started to be unreliable in July 2023. I requested a replacement prescription for new pens. The pharmacist rang me to tell me they were having difficulty getting them and could I wait until September! I aid I could but my diabetes wouldn't. I ended up buying replacement pens from Amazon. When I told my specialist during my annual hospital review he was horrified and said, in future, if I was having trouble I should contact them.

MagsS
 
I go to a diabetic service in a large London Teaching Hospital. They gave me the Novopens. When I tried to get refills my GP kept prescribing the wrong thing even though I had given them all the details and said my pens had been changed. I even went to the surgery and took in the empty packaging.
Still, the GP couldn't prescribe the correct insulin refills. Eventually, I went to the surgery and waited until I could actually see a Dr. I showed him the refills I needed and he sent the prescription to the pharmacy. I also had him add the refills to my repeat prescriptions so I could re-order online. I know it's difficult but if you go to the surgery and wait they can not turn you away. It may be the only way to get what you need.
B
 
Unfortunately I am a full time carer and cannot visit my surgery without a huge amount of planning. I am now waiting to hear from the community diabetes team. It seems like we are all struggling to access the care we need to manage our health and I do not think it is likely to improve.
 
I am fed up with the whole organisation, or lack of it. Phone call appointments cancelled with no idea when I will get seen again. Specialist report form full of errors after my last phone appointment (North Devon District Hospital). I cannot be bothered challenging the report, I've got enough on my plate!
NHS is getting much worse in my honest opinion.
 
I have to say my Gp and my hospital team are second to none. 2 weeks ago I had an emergency with my father and had to travel over without enough needles on a Sunday. Monday I rang my surgery and explained my problem. That evening I received a lovely text from a GP to say a prescription had been sent to a local pharmacy near my parents. I picked up at 8:30 the following morning. I now have needles coming out of my ears as my actual prescription back home was ready.
However, I have been dealing with my parents Gp practice and it has been an absolute nightmare. The difference quite stark.
 
My GP is a diabetic which helps understanding. And there is a diabetic nurse available too. As long as you can access the website at 8am you get same day appointments. Other local surgeries are a nightmare - waiting times of 6-8 weeks for an appointment and my mate is having similar problems with pens and refills.
 
Very few local pharmacies hold or can obtain insulin pens. The reps leave them with the hospital DSNs, and - in England - it is expected that patients who need new pens will get them from the hospital. My limited experience of Scotland was the same.
My former diabetes consultant in Birkenhead was right re my GP surgery. He said the GP and their surgery probably have hundreds of type 2s on diet or diet and tablets, but maybe only a few diabetics on insulin. They just don’t understand it or have up to date training.

Whilst we may be getting told that our GPs are getting better and that they should be the ones to roll out insulin care in the same way that they have done with Libre, the patchy cover for Libre perhaps proves that there’s still some way to go. Some areas have 80% coverage for type 1s, whilst others are as low as 30% coverage.
 
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