Pharmacies

irish1967

Having tried to find a chemist who is actually doing medical card prescriptions and failed just wondered what its like in the rest of the county.

It seems that the list online is nearly complete fabrication. One chemist told me that only Boots in Letterkenny were doing it now.

Was trying to find a chemist for better half's parents. Ended up spending 2 hours in Donegal Hospital and only got a third of the prescription. No exaggeration... 2 hours. Queues were unbeliveable. They even have a security guard on duty.

Told me to come back today which I did. Still not full prescription. Its crazy.:mad:

Anyone else in the county have any better luck?

babaloushka

I'm only beginning to hear stuff about this today - is it only Donegal and a few other counties affected? I was told that most of the chemists in the rest of the country are complying. Is there any point then in going to another county for meds? I know we're isolated here, but I'd rather drive and collect than wait for hours and have to attend more than once.
Also, I wonder if people are really stuck can they pay for the prescriptions in Strabane or Derry and claim the cost back later? Feel very sorry for anyone badly affected by this

muffler

Mary Harney has a lot to answer for as do the chemists who are putting their bank accounts ahead of patients welfare.

I'll tell you the guy on the Prime Time show tonight laid into both Ms Harney and a rep of the pharmacists and the rep come off the worse. Unbelievable that there is 50% profit on drugs administered under the long term illness scheme and yet the rep couldnt and wouldnt agree that this was a disgrace. She tried to do the auld political thing by talking about everything else but did not admit or refute the 50% mark up.

Anyhow thats a bit of a rant and going off topic (slaps myself on the wrist)

Back on topic I think the Dept of Health have made a major boo boo especially in Inishowen where patients cant get life saving drugs/medicines. I also noticed that the chemist in Convoy was listed by the Dept. as one of the pharmacies still dispensing medicines under the scheme yet on driving through Convoy yesterday there is a large sign on the door saying they aren't.

jimmycrackcorm

I think the pharmacists have it too good. Two years ago a Work colleagues daughter had just graduated and was offered not one but two pharmacist jobs down in Galway paying over €60k. This situation has developed because the regulations for pharmacies are too tight without enough competition. Pharmacists are basically operating as a cartel. Imagine if all the petrol stations got together and said that they would not supply you with petrol unless you agreed to pay 50% more than normal for example?

babaloushka

This is from the Irish Pharmacy Union site and seems to reflect reality much more than the blurb put out by the HSE:

"NIGHTMARE SITUATION AS PATIENTS ARE AGAIN FORCED TO WAIT INTO EARLY HOURS
Thursday 6 August 2009. The HSE’s contingency plan for northern Donegal has completely broken down and patients’ lives are being put at risk the Irish Pharmacy Union has warned. Last night large crowds attended the HSE’s emergency dispensary in Carndonagh but medicine supplies were only delivered to the dispensary at 11.30pm. At 1am several patients had still not been seen to. Despite waiting for long periods many patients left empty handed some for the second night in a row. A number of local pharmacies opened from 11pm to 2am to cater for those in emergency situations.

Liam Grimley a member of the IPU said the way the HSE was treating people beggared belief.

‘Several people left with a telephone number on a piece of paper. What good is that to them? One patient told me it was a throwback to the soup kitchens. I’m furious. Instead of engaging in spin about their contingency plans the HSE should be ensuring that people in this area receive the proper medicines and service. Minister Harney promised comprehensive contingency plans. Would she like to wait around until two in the morning to get medication? Are they operating a dispensary or a take-away? Once again Minister Harney and the HSE has failed the people of this country.’
The Union has written to all members asking them to ensure that they assist patients in any way they can in getting access to necessary and urgent medication."

I'm appalled :eek:

ArseBurger

If medical cards were abolished this wouldn't happen. And the State would save a ton of money.

donegalman1

I find it very hard to believe that in Donegal or any other part of the state chemists could not operate in the HSE's new price scheme. They are really playing it up and if they cannot operate without extreme margins then they obviously cannot run a business.

The government should stick to their guns. It appears to me that the Pharmacy union are using large counties with transport problems such as Donegal as a tool to force the issue. It appears orchestrated to somewhat in my view.

If the government though cannot look after counties like this in this occassion, then we are screwed in any major emergency

Bob Z

muffler wrote: »

Back on topic I think the Dept of Health have made a major boo boo especially in Inishowen where patients cant get life saving drugs/medicines. I also noticed that the chemist in Convoy was listed by the Dept. as one of the pharmacies still dispensing medicines under the scheme yet on driving through Convoy yesterday there is a large sign on the door saying they aren't.

I dont really know much about the dispute but the HSE seem to be putting out a lot of misinformation just to save face for example they said that prescriptions could be taken into Derry but this doesnt seem to be the case

muffler

Bob Z wrote: »

they said that prescriptions could be taken into Derry but this doesnt seem to be the case

Good point. Does anyone know of anyone who has had medicines dispensed in N.I.?

Bob Z

muffler wrote: »

Good point. Does anyone know of anyone who has had medicines dispensed in N.I.?

Any Chemists the Derry Journal contacted didnt know anything about it. Not sure how many they contacted

babaloushka

I know it's easy for me to say as I don't have a medical card, but if I needed urgent medication I'd beg, borrow or steal in order to buy what I needed across the border (or wherever) and hope that I could claim the money back later.
My OH needs regular medication and he had to buy an extra month up front because of this dispute - not sure why as we have to pay anyway? It's made me wonder about the cost and consider checking out prices for his meds across the border or online (legitimate pharmacies only). A lot of people have said that we pay far too much in Ireland - worth a look maybe.

muffler

The prices in the North are a lot lot cheaper than here but then again the chemists here will tell you its not the same medicine and its lower grade etc etc. I suppose they would say that.

babaloushka

muffler wrote: »

The prices in the North are a lot lot cheaper than here but then again the chemists here will tell you its not the same medicine and its lower grade etc etc. I suppose they would say that.

Granted, some of the medicines suplied via the NHS dispensaries are generic (as are some here too), which are supposed to be identical in every way, but even for branded medicines I'm told there's a big price difference because of the mark-up here.
The only problem I can see would be for people whose regular medication exceeds the monthly threshold allowable under the drugs refund scheme. Since we almost never gain by this, it wouldn't matter and if Bord Snip gets it's way, neither will the vast majority of us from now on

irish1967

I would imagine Pharmacists on this side of the border are well connected with their northern colleagues. (The IPU rep mentioned for example has stores on both sides of the border as far as I know). I doubt whether they will shot each other in the foot.

What really annoys me is how the HSE is so unprepared. They knew it was coming. The knew exactly how many people in each area are on medical cards etc.

How can it take 5 minutes in a chemists shop and over 2 hours (over 2 days in some cases)in a HSE Hospital to fill a prescription. :mad:

babaloushka

I apologise if this is too far off topic, but I've just done a search online for drug costs and the EXACT same branded medications that my OH pays €71.78 for here costs £34.16 in UK! This is a reputable online pharmacy based in the UK for which you must have a prescription. That's a substantial saving and in the times that are in it, I know what option I'll be taking from now on
As for chemists in cahoots on both sides of the border, I really think that it's dog-eat-dog now and only a very few will cut themselves out of a business opportunity with cross-border customers. there are plenty of independent pharmacies with no ties who I'm quite sure will be happy to serve us. Methinks it's the pharmacies on THIS side who have shot themselves in the foot

FearDark

drug prices in all pharmacies in the republic are agreed upon between the hse and the manufacturers.the pharmacist has absolutely no say in the price believe it or not. pharmacies also cannot legally import drugs from spain etc and dispense them in ireland.

the hse wants to reduce the drugs bill fair enough but they seem to have overlooked the fact that they are already paying well over the odds for drugs from manufacturers compared to almost every other eu country

jonnygee

It seems to me that the pharmacies get 3euro 60 cents for every item they dispence plus any profit and discount as well. so they are very well paid in my opinion. They could take less and still be very profitable i Think. However mary harney is coming across as a dictator, which does not go down well with me anyway, I think she has done her best, but it has been far from good enough, time for her to go, i believe. The pharmacies closing has caused this mess with people having to q. not at all good enough,they have a lot to answer for. many old people put under unneccesary worry and anxiety. The hse seem to be a right mess as well though. it annoys me to hear both sides claim the moral high ground when they both have ballsed this up bigtime.

muffler

I have added a poll to this which should be interesting given the fact that Donegal people appear to have suffered more than others when it comes to getting their medicine/drugs.

L1011

irish1967 wrote: »

How can it take 5 minutes in a chemists shop and over 2 hours (over 2 days in some cases)in a HSE Hospital to fill a prescription. :mad:

Cause the pharmacists in the HSE dispensaries are newly qualified with no experience of working in stores, or are British trained with no idea how we do stuff here; most of them have never used the computer systems in use in pharmacies here and as a result its becoming an unintended go-slow.

muffler

Get voting there people. It looks a bit like one way traffic so far but still it would be nice to see a few more votes.