Repeat monthly nuisance
Repeat prescriptions are part of everyday life for anybody with a long term health condition. If you have an illness which just needs 2 pills three times a day, its quite easy to know what you need each month.
With T1D its not that easy. The amount of insulin you need will vary on a daily basis. The amount of test strips you use will depend on how often you drive, if you are unwell, if you are basal testing, if the day ends in a ‘Y’ etc etc. The amount of ketone strips will vary depending if you are ill. The amount of lancets, well that’s irrelevant really, still using the 200 I got at diagnosis 2 years ago.
So all in all this will need to be a fluid arrangement. We need to pick and choose what we need month to month rather than an automated service. Having the same script every 4 weeks just doesn’t work for us.
Early days
For the first few months I was ticking my repeats on the back of the prescription, taking it all the way to my GP. Then 2 days later going back to my GP, picking it up and going off to the chemist to get my meds.
I can see how this would contribute to people getting a case of the ”burnout” pretty quickly. we have enough to deal with day to day without becoming a carrier pigeon as well.
Patient access to the rescue
I looked into a few options, getting scripts sent direct to chemist for example. This helped for a bit but I was soon finding each month it wasn’t quite right. The chemist blamed the GP, the GP blamed the chemist and I was left stuck in the middle, usually with no test strips or on one occasion no insulin!
I then found the ➡ Patient Access service, that’s when it all became so much easier. Now I can book appointments with my GP, order repeat scripts, view test results and view my medical record all from my phone.
How does it work
To set it up I just filled in a form from my GP to gain access to the service, was issued a user number and password. I had to provide photographic ID to be allowed access to my medical records.
Once your account is set up you can use it from a PC or from your smartphone.
Now I can use this app for all my needs at the GP surgery
- Book appointments
- Order repeat prescriptions
- Select which chemist I want my script sending to, using the form on the app
- View my latest test results
- View my medications
- View my immunisations
- View my allergies
Check out some screenshots from the mobile app
I have been using this service for a year now and it is great, it really has got rid of one of the many diabetes stresses life throws at us.
Take care and order it there
Type1Bri