GP practices are not salaried employees of the NHS they are private partnerships with the NHS as their biggest contractor...all surgeries are directed by local Clinical Commissioning groups who will authorise what they spend their budgets on...the list of medications will be what they have to work from...if it's not on the list you can't have it...often cheaper alternatives used are not as effective but it is essentially all about the cost...from time to time the list of approved meds will be reviewed & some removed from it...I always believe it is worthwhile challenging that...you can find meetings of your local CCG committee meetings online where they may have discussed this.GP does NOT work for the NHS
they are contracted and work for themselves, i believe.
@gennepher your tale of trying to get the pain meds is awful. When Mine was at its worst I was seeing the specialist pain team at the hospital I was treated at, they prescribed the meds ( gabapentin) which I collected from the hospital pharmacy, and didn’t discourage me from trying CBD oil. I think I must have been very lucky. They were lovely and very understanding. I’m so glad it wasn’t down to my GP.
Heya, new to this thread, I heard here I get to chat about cats ^.^
Since I started insulin and have to get up at 7.40 every morning (even the weekend) my two are thrilled as I usually feed them first before I check my blg and then get my insulin.
I'm on a very low dose of 5units of lantus at the moment and just been told that is not much at all and I may be fine without it. I did notice a difference in my energy (and blg...) though, so it must do something.
Still awaiting doctors appointment for antibodies test, hopefully in 1 week if Corona doesn't wreck the whole country by then. Definitely miss my exercise a lot
Again cats are super happy I am staying home and cuddle with them all day
Heya, new to this thread, I heard here I get to chat about cats ^.^
Since I started insulin and have to get up at 7.40 every morning (even the weekend) my two are thrilled as I usually feed them first before I check my blg and then get my insulin.
I'm on a very low dose of 5units of lantus at the moment and just been told that is not much at all and I may be fine without it. I did notice a difference in my energy (and blg...) though, so it must do something.
Still awaiting doctors appointment for antibodies test, hopefully in 1 week if Corona doesn't wreck the whole country by then. Definitely miss my exercise a lot
Again cats are super happy I am staying home and cuddle with them all day
Hi @SgathachHeya, new to this thread, I heard here I get to chat about cats ^.^
Since I started insulin and have to get up at 7.40 every morning (even the weekend) my two are thrilled as I usually feed them first before I check my blg and then get my insulin.
I'm on a very low dose of 5units of lantus at the moment and just been told that is not much at all and I may be fine without it. I did notice a difference in my energy (and blg...) though, so it must do something.
Still awaiting doctors appointment for antibodies test, hopefully in 1 week if Corona doesn't wreck the whole country by then. Definitely miss my exercise a lot
Again cats are super happy I am staying home and cuddle with them all day
Welcome.. And thank you for leading me into my little post...
Sure we've all had that ONE guest that while nice to have, just begins to get a little TOO comfortable, and begins to take just a few liberties with your generosity as a host... Right.
Well I guess we had it coming..
Sleeping ala Trickster, on the back of the couch.
I give you 'Home Invader' Exhibit A, M'luds.
View attachment 39001
Has he heard you may be off on yet another trip?...staking his claim for your return.I give you 'Home Invader' Exhibit A, M'luds
6.3 this morning and it hasn't snowed, very disappointing as I was looking forward to it and a romp through the park. Oh well, have to make do with walking thru' puddles instead. Enjoy the day
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...
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