Strange Request At Doctors Surgery..!

[alavahalf]

Just attended my GP's surgery to have a dressing changed. Here we are in the supposedly affluent South East, in a surgery with more than 20 GPs.
The nurse advised me that I really need to return in 2 days time for another dressing change. She said they are just about out of stock of the materials needed, so she will write me a prescription, so as I can collect the dressings etc. from the Chemist and bring them with me to my next appointment !
Am I missing something here ... where will it all end ?

[bookbinder]

It looks as if supply can't keep up with demand.

[margarettom]

Perhaps it's because you will need the prescription to eventually change the dressings yourself.

[sunny-dave]

I suspect some financial jiggery-pokery is going on - possibly moving the cost of materials from being a direct cost to the Practice and lumping them into the (less direct) Prescription Costs pot ...

... which (of course) will cost the NHS as a whole a lot more (by the time the pharamcy has had its cut and the paperwork is done), but save the individual Practice some pennies.

It's what you get when you fragmentise the NHS and introduce local profit motives.

[bednobs]

That's normal.I have had dressings on and off foroad 5 years and the nurse gives me a prescription even though they do them

[bednobs]

And when I was a nursing student 20 odd years ago the same thing happened

[alavahalf]

How would you change a dressing with one hand .. would you expect take your own dressings to the surgery ?

[hc4361]

Same with my wife over 15 years ago.

[hc4361]

Will you have to pay for them, alavahalf?

[alavahalf]

hc .. The nurse asked me that before she requested I take the prescription .. no I dont, but I just see it as a case of robbing peter to pay paul.

[Spicerack]

Take a pair of scissors with you, just in case.

[alavahalf]

I'm banned from touching anything sharp .. thats why I need dressings !

[Old_Geezer]

I blame Brexit.

[fiction-factory]

Although NHS has a lot of caring staff, in my experience there is a lot of inefficiency in terms of admin systems and bad planning, so it may just be down to one or both of those. I could reel off examples of simple things they continue to get wrong but I won't derail the thread here

[woofgang]

There are loads of different types and sizes of dressing and keeping them all in every surgery which does dressing changes ties up a huge amount of money, not to mention suitable storage space. Dispensing chemists act as centralised stores. They are able to get supplies in quite quickly from suppliers and can supply people who use many local surgeries. Surgeries may keep on hand small amounts of the most common dressings for urgent or unusual circumstances but (at least round here) they try to keep it to a minimum.

[DTCwordfan]

//Same with my wife over 15 years ago.//

Good excuse to change the wife out.....

[bednobs]

But i have 2 hands alvah

[dunnitall]

I think this is normal, my OH has dressings delivered from chemist for either him to take to surgery when the nurse sees to his wounds....(thin skin abrasions) or as recently when the district nurse comes out to do the dressings. Makes sense to me as others said that storage problems for different dressings for each patient could be an issue.

[tinkerbell23]

Saves waste & storage issues or over ordering!

X

[rowanwitch]

A lot of dressings have to be prescribed to be supplied on a specific patient basis. It is not possible to hold stocks. When patients have unopened leftovers they can add them to the store cupboard if you donate them. Dave had a lot of dressings including some expensive ones. The nurse just said you won't be needing these , shall I get them out of your way. I just said I was going to offer them to you anyway. She went off with a box full and I had one less thing to dispose of.

[waterboatman]

How very odd!