Prescription Medication

[Doug53]

Hi, as most of the people on here seem to be of a certain age, I can’t be the only one on regular medication, how do you manage on extended trips away. Thanks

 

[Doug53]

Thanks for all the replies and lots of information

 

[Lenny HB]

I found I can get away with ordering a repeat prescription every 6 weeks soon build up a stock.

 

[trophychap]

Jenny is only prescribed 4 weeks worth of anything at a time, hence if we were going away for 5 weeks or even 30 days, she'd need 2 prescriptions. At our surgery, you are not allowed to have 2 months-worth of anything on the same prescription. She has to order the same drugs on 2 separate days (or 3 days for 3 months) and explain why on request numbers 2 and 3.

With not all drugs having been prescribed on exactly the same day, they all run out at different times of the month - it's an absolute PITA for her, the pharmacist and the ruddy doctors. However since it was they who made the stupid rule, good luck to them. Hope they enjoy dealing with their decision.

If she was prescribed any 'controlled' drugs like morphine etc well one can see the reason for being so strict - but when it's BP drugs or thyroxine - why be equally OTT? She doesn't have the same prob with insulin since I box of 5 cartridges las between 20 and 25 days, hence to get 28 days, she has to have 2 boxes allowed every month - hence she can get in front of herself and stockpile a bit. When the fridge gets a bit full, she just doesn't order any more until stocks are getting lower again. They trust her to do this with a substance she could kill someone else (or herself) with - but not with those substances she couldn't commit murder or suicide with.

 

[gus-lopez]

with insulin since I box of 5 cartridges las between 20 and 25 days, hence to get 28 days, she has to have 2 boxes allowed every month -

Used to be like that here under the new system then they modified it again about a year ago so that you would now have to pick the insulin up every 25 days. Then @ 28 days & 30 days for anything else. Multiple trips now to the Farmácia

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[Southdowners]

I order my scrips on line from anywhere in the world and they are delivered monthly to our local PO. The postmistress hangs on to them until we return.

I was wondering whether it would be possible to order the scripts online as needed, then get one of our children to pick them up and mail them to us when we're away.

I assume you can use an address or post office in the country where you're travelling. Has anyone done this?

 

[JockandRita]

Our biggest problem, like those on insulin, is that Rita's medi pens have to be stored at between 3 and 8 degrees, and although she has been lucky to secure a 3 x month supply so far, anything more cannot be purchased over the counter, although is available on the internet..................for an arm and a leg.
Before every issue, she needs a blood test, and whilst that is possible within the EU, the firm contracted by the NHS to supply the meds, no longer dispatches outside the UK.
She is not able to stock pile these meds, and so our EU travel duration is not expected to be much more than 12 x weeks. If the fridge on the MH ever fails, we will be bu@@ered and coming straight home.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[canopus]

I was wondering whether it would be possible to order the scripts online as needed, then get one of our children to pick them up and mail them to us when we're away.

I assume you can use an address or post office in the country where you're travelling. Has anyone done this?

I'm sure your children can collect your scrips (they will need ID and possibly pre-autorisation) but warn them not to let on that you're are away for longer than the '3 months' otherwise there could be consequences.

 

[scotjimland]

If the fridge on the MH ever fails, we will be bu@@ered and coming straight home.

Hi Jock..

have you explored alternative emergency / back-up storage solutions .. ?

there are small medical refrigerators , they run on 12v and mains..

just an idea which you have probably thought about

 

[Southdowners]

I'm sure your children can collect your scrips (they will need ID and possibly pre-autorisation) but warn them not to let on that you're are away for longer than the '3 months' otherwise there could be consequences.

No, you don't need ID or authorisation. My son picked up our script the other day - nothing required.

What I was asking is has anyone had their medication sent to them abroad?

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[mike mcglynn]

No, you don't need ID or authorisation. My son picked up our script the other day - nothing required.

What I was asking is has anyone had their medication sent to them abroad?

Yes My daughter sent me my meds by post when I was in Spain .

 

[Southdowners]

The same as if you are in hospital for a period over 4 weeks (?) you are supposed to inform the pension people so they can reduce your pension as you are being fed by the NHS. the same as if in receipt of sickness benefit you are not supposed to be out of the house after 9pm.

For non - doctor attendance over 2 years they are supposed to contact & remove if no reply ,I believe.

Where did you get this info from?

It doesn't sound right to me.

 

[Southdowners]

Yes My daughter sent me my meds by post when I was in Spain .

What address did you use? Can it be sent to a post office or similar?

 

[mike mcglynn]

What address did you use? Can it be sent to a post office or similar?

I was on a campsite at Benidorm longterm and they were taking parcels and lots of other stuff No problems.

 

[scotjimland]

You could also use Post Restante , I've used that in the past for insurance documents

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/mail/poste-restante

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[Puddleduck]

In any case, surely they don't remove patients from their lists if there hasn't been any contact for 3 months, (whether they've been away or whether they've stayed at home ?).

For non - doctor attendance over 2 years they are supposed to contact & remove if no reply ,I believe.

My Great-Grandfather registered with a GP practice in 1947. When he became ill aged 96 the GP practice said he was not registered with them and they had never had any contact with him. We did have his medical card and NHS number and it was a devil of a job to get it all sorted out. I think that eventually my Grandmother had to get him de-registered and re-registered as the central records had his as a patient at the local surgery but the local surgery had no record of him. He had never seen a doctor until two months before his death. A bureaucratic nightmare for the relatives of a dying man.

This was in the mid-1970s.

I was wondering whether it would be possible to order the scripts online as needed, then get one of our children to pick them up and mail them to us when we're away.

I assume you can use an address or post office in the country where you're travelling. Has anyone done this?

No, you don't need ID or authorisation. My son picked up our script the other day - nothing required.

What I was asking is has anyone had their medication sent to them abroad?

The sister-in-law who moved to Italy was advised to do this until she got her residency and Italian doctor sorted out. I know she did have meds sent out once but I was not involved as I thought it was fraudulent and refused to help.

 

[obanvanman]

Do you have to take a prescription with you to show that it has been prescribed to you by a UK doctor?

We have been travelling abroad now for 2 years. I take 3 months worth of pills prescribed by my GP when I return home for the van's MOT and my heart check up.
I also collect Aspirin form the chemist because it is so expensive abroad. ( I currently have 400 of the buggers ).
When my 3 months worth runs out I simply go in to the local chemist, so far it has been in Holland, France, Italy and Spain, armed with my GP's prescription and have never had any problem getting my meds.
It normally costs about 7 euros per prescription.

Kev

 

[Puddleduck]

armed with my GP's prescription and have never had any problem getting my meds.
It normally costs about 7 euros per prescription.

Kev

Is that the counter part prescription or the full thing?

I was told I needed an Italian Doctor's prescription to get mine when I asked in Italy. I asked "just in case" as I had enough to see me through and more but one never knows

 

[Flamenca]

For non - doctor attendance over 2 years they are supposed to contact & remove if no reply ,I believe.

I am sure you are probably correct but GP's might be a little tardy doing this. Maybe because they receive an annual payment for each person on their register. I went for a period of over 5 years with no need to see my GP and when I did go to the surgery they were worried that they had lost some of my notes

 

[gus-lopez]

Where did you get this info from?

It doesn't sound right to me.

I was brought up with it In receipt of sick pay it was printed on the pay slips. Pension might have changed but it always used to be reduced.

Just had a look & it appears pension is ok for first 52 weeks but any of these stop after 28days in hospital.
Attendance Allowance (AA), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP), you should notify the Department for Work and Pensions as these benefits will be suspended after you have spent 28 days in hospital.

You can obtain a prescription & theoretically use it abroad .


https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/health/prescription-medicine-abroad/prescriptions/index_en.htm

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[Ninjabob]

Not hijacking but I have an injection that I have to have (self administered weekly) and the catch is the phials have to be kept in the fridge. Is there a reliable 12volts micro fridge that anyone here has experience of using?

 

[obanvanman]

Is that the counter part prescription or the full thing?

I was told I needed an Italian Doctor's prescription to get mine when I asked in Italy. I asked "just in case" as I had enough to see me through and more but one never knows

I just use the front section which has my name and address, Doctors surgery and the medicine required.
We needed to see a Dr in Pompeii and ended up in the local hospital, so you might have trouble with that one.
There are pharmicies everywhere, just try another one.

 

[JockandRita]

there are small medical refrigerators , they run on 12v and mains..

just an idea which you have probably thought about

Thanks Jim. No. I hadn't already thought of that. As we have a (very reliable) large Electrolux AES Fridge/Freezer, we haven't looked outside the box yet.
If we were on a site, hopefully, we'd be able to come to some sort of arrangement with reception/management staff. If on a FUN Meet or Rally, hopefully we could liase with those who know us, and who had spare room in their fridges. However, if on the road ourselves, we wouldn't be able to cope, as the cost of these 12v medical fridges are astronomical, for what they are.

Not hijacking but I have an injection that I have to have (self administered weekly) and the catch is the phials have to be kept in the fridge. Is there a reliable 12volts micro fridge that anyone here has experience of using?

See above Bob.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[scotjimland]

Thanks Jim. No. I hadn't already thought of that. As we have a (very reliable) large Electrolux AES Fridge/Freezer, we haven't looked outside the box yet.
If we were on a site, hopefully, we'd be able to come to some sort of arrangement with reception/management staff. If on a FUN Meet or Rally, hopefully we could liase with those who know us, and who had spare room in their fridges. However, if on the road ourselves, we wouldn't be able to cope, as the cost of these 12v medical fridges are astronomical, for what they are.

I saw this earlier, and thought it might be useful as a backup ..

Amazon product ASIN B01N551IZN

 

[denisejoe]

No, you don't need ID or authorisation. My son picked up our script the other day - nothing required.

What I was asking is has anyone had their medication sent to them abroad?

Our GP surgery has decided you have to fill in a form to say is allowed to pick up your scripts - one form per person. Joe and I aren't even allowed to pick each others up without having filled in the forms we allow the other to pick them how. How ridiculous is that?

Denise

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[trophychap]

Our GP surgery has decided you have to fill in a form to say is allowed to pick up your scripts - one form per person. Joe and I aren't even allowed to pick each others up without having filled in the forms we allow the other to pick them how. How ridiculous is that?

Denise

Probably not at all. Someone goes in and collects your scrip then 2 hours later you go and ask for it and play merry hell it's been given to someone else and nobody knows who. Or I know there are people from care homes, and pharmacies etc who collect multiple scrips for multiple people. One of Jens was being returned by someone one day just as she was about to blow a gasket at reception.

Since then, they prefer to send them to patients nominated pharmacies electronically as soon as they are 'signed' by the doctor on their computer system.

My daughter (also a patient at the surgery on regular repeat scrips from the same and using exactly the same pharmacy for her own utterly different drugs) collected one of Jens one day on her way to our house and was being cross examined by someone new on the counter there until the actual pharmacist noticed she was there and intervened, saying It's OK - S is Mrs C's daughter! We both agreed it was no bad thing really, just proved the pharmacy were on their toes.

Back to the case in point - Jen discovered quite by the by that a 'common' brand of insulin that she'd been using for years like thousands of other people worldwide and fully licenced in the whole of the EU for years apparently, was not actually available to Spanish diabetics even on prescription.

People need to find out for themselves if 'their' drugs are available wherever they are going before they go there - even when it's somewhere absolutely normal, apparently.

 

[denisejoe]

Our GP surgery certainly don't want us to have our scripts sent electronically to the pharmacy as they do their own dispensing and we only have to go to the pharmacy for the occasional item that's out of stock. Joe has one item which he always has to pick up from the pharmacy but the pharmacy gets it in immediately he takes the script in.

Denise

 

[Minxy]

The sister-in-law who moved to Italy was advised to do this until she got her residency and Italian doctor sorted out. I know she did have meds sent out once but I was not involved as I thought it was fraudulent and refused to help.

Is this the same one who's decided not to stay? What's happened about them coming back to the UK?

 

[danielf]

Hi all,

Has anyone come up with a soloution for long term travelling.

We want to go long term travelling as soon as we can, but I am type 1 diabetic , and worry about getting Insulin in Europe ..... And how to get it . I am on an I sulin pump and use a vial everyday at least , meaning alot of insulin to be carried

Thanks for any advice !

Daniel.

 

[138go]

It’s my understanding that it’s illegal to send your prescription drugs from the U.K. to Spain.

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[Puddleduck]

I just use the front section which has my name and address, Doctors surgery and the medicine required.
We needed to see a Dr in Pompeii and ended up in the local hospital, so you might have trouble with that one.
There are pharmicies everywhere, just try another one.

The pharmacist phoned to check so I think it really is Dr prescription only.

I am in Scotland and just checked, the repeat ordering script only has my name, address and clinic number on it plus a tick list for ordering what I need. There are no Dr details - those are on the part that is handed to the pharmacist. The other option would be to photocopy the whole lot of course. Too late this time as i just handed the form to the pharmacist.

Is this the same one who's decided not to stay? What's happened about them coming back to the UK?

Yes it is. I have concerns about her sanity but it's not my problem. They have their Italian house up for sale (with the infamous Barry) and have had a few enquirers but no viewings. They need to sell before they can come back as they don't have enough money to buy a house in the UK or to rent - although they are really out of touch with rental prices and think they will get a nice house in a good area for around £200 pcm !!!!! I am keeping quiet about that as I don't want any more angst.

The Italian house had been up for sale for 3 years before they bought so I think they will need another mug person with rose-tinted glasses to make an offer - or someone who can make a real go of it. The property has a lot of potential for someone able to see what could be done and has the energy and enough capital to make it happen.

For a person / couple wanting a small market garden and holiday tourist business it would be fantastic. There is a huge garage ideal for commercial use (small agricultural machinery repairs or quadbike / motorbike repairs etc etc), the main house could be (and has been in the past) used as a B&B and a self catering apartment with completely separate owner accommodation and there is building plots with planning which I would have used to build log cabins or similar and done yoga / wellness retreats or painting schools (fantastic views) or craft holidays. The lists are endless! And no, I don't fancy buying her out!