Collecting a prescription

My DS lives in USA and if he has to take anything for a couple of months the pharmacy ring him with the next suppy to tell him it is ready. The tablets are mostly prescribed in bottles and they are colour coded with a ring round the neck of the bottle for each member of the family. Handy to see they have the right bottle by just glancing at the ring.

I've had no reply to the two letters I've written to the Manager of the Boots involved. The second one said that I thought at least an acknowledgment of my first letter (outlining what happened) would be a professional courtesy. I also said I would appreciate knowing what steps had been taken to make sure this didn't happen to someone else. The second letter was delivered to the shop last Sunday. No reply so far.

'my local independent pharmacy' - how wonderful to hear that a few still exist. When we first moved to East Leics in the early 70s, all the pharmacies were local independent, with the only exception being Boots in town. The chemists knew all the locals, and also all the GPs- and often the GP would send an urgent prescription over the phone and would go and sign it later, etc. I have to say though, that whenever I've picked up prescriptions in the UK, the chemist, from big chain or independent, always checked name, etc, before handing over stuff.

My son ordered a prescription via the new electronic system, from the pharmacy at Asda. When he called to pick up his tablets, they were in quite a large package. Before getting on his bike to go home, he checked inside the bag, all his stuff was there......plus someone else`s prescription drugs as well, with their name and address clearly marked! Our pharmacists need to sit up and pay more attention when dispensing.

Sainsbury's did this to me once. Now I order on line and it's taken/sent to the local independent chemist where I pick it up.only snag is they won't hand it out if the pharmacist is having his lunch!daft.

Thanks for the update Daisy.
I have to say it doesn't fill me with confidence that a Boots pharmacy a) dispenses drugs to the wrong patient and b) say they have checked the name and address when clearly they either didn't bother, or didn't do it properly.
Are you going to follow it up with a formal complaint?

We request a repeat prescription and it is sent electronically to our chemist and two days later a very nice chap deliver's to our door the chemist will also deal with repeat orders if you want him to a very good system indeed.The driver has also been known to advise the Doctor or Chemist if a patient doesn't seem to well he is a real gem.

Does anyone use the Boots Medisure packs either for themselves or a person they care for? We are just starting with these. The carers will still give mum the tablets as she could easily miss a day but it should make things a lot easier without the repeat prescriptions.

My pharmacy calls my name and then asks me for the first line of my address. Perhaps the other person lives on your road Daisy?

I haven't had any reply from the Boots manager, but the police have let me know that the man returned the prescription the following morning, realising there had been a mistake. I'm relieved, but still think there was a lapse in security. Thanks for all the replies. An email from the police on the 1st June didn't reach me. They apologise.

I'll be back home soon and will update you on any progress.

We have automatic repeat prescriptions and most of the staff at our pharmacy know us enough now to tie a face to a name, but they do have different people on at the weekend. They do check the full address and the medication being collected. I suppose one should no longer be shocked at the lengths some people will go to get their hands on other people's property. My sister in law was telling me how shoplifting is really getting out of control in their small town, and the police don't seem to prosecute even when they catch them.

Went into our local Boots for some Sensodyne toothpaste only to find that particular shelf empty. I asked, of course and it appears that the whole lot had been swiped by a shoplifter during one of the times when their Security was not on duty by the door!
Anybody seen any shady-looking characters with bleeding gums recently?

Oh apparently loo paper is another popular target, so the suspect might also appear to be in a bit of a hurry

I also order on line. I gave a book of stamps to reception and they will post the prescription out to me any time that this suits me better.
I phone first to check that all items have been included because quite often theyve missed one or two items in error.

I'm sick to death of being told that our prescriptions are ready and then to walk, as I don't drive, to the chemist a half mile away, only to be told that they don't have them in stock.. My husband takes heart meds, and it's just not on when this happens..

Our surgery has a very efficient online facility for repeat prescriptions. After inputting one's details for the first time it is simply a case of ticking which drugs are required, entering which pharmacist you want from the drop down menu and clicking to send. Two days later the RX is ready to be collected at the chosen chemist shop.

I've often collected DH's and have always been asked for his full name, address and postcode though.

Our GPs surgery has a box on the receptionists counter with a slit for putting in requests for repeat prescriptions. You come back later to collect them after they have been printed out and signed. You can also send them in by post, with a SAE. They are mailed out to you. There are even two locked boxes outside the door, for after hours. One is for repeat prescription requests, the other for specimens (there is also a specimen box indoors).

I can't get a receipt for my prescriptions because they are sent electronically from the surgery. Therefore I have to give my name and address, though if only they kept the same staff from year to year they would know me very well by now.

I'll be popping up to our village drop in surgery/pharmacy to collect a prescription for DH this morning.

It opens at 10am although nothing happens until 10.30. You queue outside the door to see the GP (this starts at 9.45) and only the first twelve patients are allocated an appointment so it's first come, first served. This is a bit chaotic because people who only want to collect or hand in repeat prescriptions are mixed in with patients who want to see the practice nurse. Yesterday the queue stretched a long way down the road and most of us with dodgy knees were perched on garden walls!!

It turned out there were only four of us needing the doc as it was market day in town and the sun was shining!!

The trick is to go for prescriptions a bit later when there is no queue and nurse/doctor's appointments have been allocated but.....if it's been a quiet morning they shut up shop and go home so it's a bit of a gamble

I have been going to my local pharmacy for many years. They know me well but we still go through the performance of full name, address and occasionally date of birth.

I'm inclined to agree with others that this was a deliberate theft, after someone overhead the original request. A good case for non-verbal prescription collections - a receipt for the prescription which you produce on collection. Nothing would need to be said. Of course, there is the risk of the receipt being mislaid, but on the whole probably a safer system.

That is quite worrying and probably a deliberate act by someone who overheard the pharmacist. An unscrupulous person would not care what the tablets were, there is probably a market for everything in a druggie's world.

(re the rushing suggestion)

I dispensed medicine for 20 years and I have to admit to the fact that mistakes were sometimes made, and that was with a system of at least two people checking . When people are involved human error is always a possibility [not saying it's right, though]

I think that might actually happen in my local pharmacy - but not in Boots!