Decided to take the DMDs following very helpful advice from people on this forum.
MS nurse was great - spent ages with me - eventually agreed on Avonex. Took a few weeks but eventually things were set up for this week. HaH to deliver yesterday, nurse coming today to show me the works - all looking good.
HaH didn’t appear during the four hour slot I had been given. When I rang they said would arrive within next two hours - definitely on the van - don’t worry. No show so I rang again - “sorry the refrigeration unit on the van has exploded so the drugs have had to be put in quarrantine - they will issue some more tomorrow and send by courier in time for the nurse at noon”.
Checked this morning - “yes they have been dispensed and the courier will be with you by noon”. I said 75 minutes to get from the Midlands to Surrey is unlikely. “No I am assured they will be there”. No they won’t!
I find HaH are not at all proactive in their communications - I have had to chase all the time. They come up with stories which you couldn’t make up. I hate the thought of dealing with this every month - apparently I am down for four weekly deliveries.
Is this par for the course? Sorry if this is a boring story - I know they have been in some difficulty
Seems par for the course - sorry.
As i understand it, they took over the contracts foranother “home delivery pharmacy”, but did not increase their staff.
Things started going wrong.
More people were phoning them, but with no more staff to answer the calls a backlog built up.
They had problems with their own delivery service, to they switched to a very large logistic company with the right sort of vans.
Since March, they are blaming the new delivery company most of the time, but they have some very good alternative stories.
What can you do? Several things, actually.
1 - Get on to your MS Nurse. Tell her what has happened
2 - Ask if the prescription an be given to BUPA instead.
3 - Give them a bad review on the NHS Services website:
http://www.nhs.uk/Services/Pharmacies/ReviewsAndRatings/DefaultView.aspx….
I do know that at least two hospital trusts are currently deciding whether to dump them.
I do know that at one hospital trust has dumped them, and another has decided that they get no new business.
My personal view is that a company that delivers a 28 day supply of medication should at least be capable of working out that a fresh delivery is needed every 4 weeks. It seems that this is beyond the capability of the HaH management.
Geoff
Thanks for your reply Geoff
After about five calls to chase them up - the delivery came nearly two days late and too late for the ms nurse’s visit. Without all the calls I have doubts that it would have turned up at all.
Their call centre staff were really trying hard to help - I felt a bit sorry for them - I think the company is in a real muddle.
Maybe I was just unlucky but I can’t stand the thought of having that nonsense every month. I will ask if the prescription can be transferred to BUPA as you have suggested.
Best wishes
David