Change in procedure for repeat prescriptions

Fri 14 Feb, 19:29

I am very concerned about the difficulties now encountered by patients seeking their repeat prescriptions. Many will be unaware of the discussion on this forum as they do not use the internet. I understand Chipping Norton Health Centre and Charlbury Medical Centre now no longer accept telephone requests for repeat prescriptions and are requesting on-line orders or deposition of request forms in boxes on the surgery walls. I realise that this is an England-wide decision and cannot be easily reversed.

My neighbour is blind, deaf and housebound, they cannot use the internet or a smartphone, so how to order their next repeat medication from Chipping Norton Health Centre has become an urgent issue.

(Age UK stats:- 61% of over 75’s haven’t used the Internet in the past 3 months, for those aged 64-75 , 26% haven’t used the internet.) Older people complain to me that they feel increasingly digitally excluded. The very elderly may lose the vision, manual dexterity or cognition to set up and use new on-line systems, even if they previously had these skills. They complain that IT demands by organisations, including the NHS, can feel and upsetting and anxiety provoking.

The increasing numbers of elderly patients queuing on trolleys to enter A&E correlates with the increasing difficulties they experience staying independent in a digital age. A&E staff blamed Primary Care difficulties for the overload of patients when interviewed by a BBC reporter yesterday.

In my experience family can only register as a patient’s on-line Proxy if they are already a patient at the same Health Centre as the patient. Many have no local family or anyone able to travel to a Health Centre to hand deliver the request.

The prescriptions request forms which are enclosed with our medications include the address of the surgery, I propose that requests are posted to the surgeries 2nd class 10 days before the medication is required.

How are older people meant to obtain essential medication and remain medically stable and living in their own homes? Hopefully someone could post a letter for them. 
Any thoughts?