A campaigner for better NHS services has told how a new GP prescription service operating in New Cumnock is ‘not good enough.’
Rab Wilson said he encountered major issues when he tried to pick up his usual medication from a Lloyds Pharmacy outlet in the town.
He claimed that a new system in place to distribute repeat prescriptions has caused widespread problems to patients waiting on urgent meds.
Mr Wilson is a leading figure in the campaign group, Action for Safe and Accountable People’s NHS (ASAP).
But he claimed that he’s been forced to make five separate trips to the New Cumnock pharmacy in the last week to chase up missing medication.
Now he’s written to Claire Burden, the NHS Ayrshire & Arran chief executive, demanding she personally intervene and help sort out the mess.
In his letter Mr Wilson said the new system is “not good enough,” and the current issues could have “life threatening consequences” to those who rely on their weekly medication.
His letter says: “Every one of NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s clients/patients need their prescribed medications. If there is any serious delay to their getting their medications this will cause havoc throughout the system- and could even have life threatening consequences.
“I don’t place any responsibility whatsoever for this cock-up on the hard-working staff at Lloyds. I see them at work regularly, they work very hard, and are very caring towards everyone I see them dealing with.”
Mr Wilson, 61, from New Cumnock, flagged up the problems he encountered on the New Cumnock Facebook page. Now others are coming forward with similar experiences.
According to Mr Wilson, under the old scheme one of the assistants would just “tick off” and “take a note” of the meds needed and they would be ready for patients on their next due date.
However, during one of Mr Wilson’s recent visits he claims was given a printed list of medications and told he had to tick them off and “present the list” a full week before his next prescription was due, resulting in even more return trips to the pharmacy.
Mr Wilson said: “I never had any problem with the old system and cannot think of any reason why it should have been altered — unless perhaps to slash jobs and cut costs. What do Lloyds/NHS Ayrshire & Arran intend to do to resolve these problems?”
Mr Wilson received a response from Lloyds Pharmacy owners, McKesson UK, saying they were “truly sorry” to learn of his concerns and said they would pass the matter on to their Customer Experience Team for further investigation.
Craig McArthur, East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership director said: “We are sorry to hear of issues experienced by individuals when collecting prescriptions at the community pharmacy in New Cumnock.
“All community pharmacies in Ayrshire and Arran are independent contractors, and as such are responsible for their own individual systems and processes.
“As per the NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s Complaints Handling Procedure, concerns received regarding a primary care independent contractor (including community pharmacies), are forwarded to the independent contractor to respond to directly.
“NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s Primary Care Team is also made aware of relevant concerns and there are appropriate escalation processes in place with independent contractors, if required.
“We are unable to comment on complaints which are currently ongoing.”
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