The idea
Law restricting Prescriptions for medications to 1 months supply
For example. - I personally have 3 repeat prescriptions. Two are basic nasal sprays and one is statins. I will have to take the statins for the rest of my life and the sprays for a year or so (at least). Yet I can only get prespriptions that are for 3/4weeks supply. This means that every 3/4 weeks the doctor has to give me a prescription, the chemist dispense it and the bureaucracy has to process the paperwork & make payments. Why? I can see the logic if the items were high cost (to avoid waste) or dangerous (to avoid overdose) etc but these are cheap, 'run of the mill' items that I will need for months/years. So why not allow say 3 months prescriptions on such items. Income/payments from the public can not be the issue as the £7 I pay will no where near cover the admin – and in any case, most people do not pay anyway.
Why is it important?
It will save time and money within the NHS
I agree – I have type 1 diabetes but am looked after by a hospital rather than my GP. I see the consultant and the my type of insulin hasn’t changed for 5/6 years before that it hadn’t changed for over 10 years. I’m also on statins so every 2 months I have o go into work late so I can deliver my repea prescription and leave work early to pick it up. Since this excessive frequency of repeat prescriptions was introduced my GP rarely manages to get the prescription right so I have to check it each time. I suspect there a link (even if it’s no a direct one) with the amount of prescriptions GPs write and how much money they receive that’s at the root of this problem.