GP prescription service in Coventry and Nuneaton to be axed

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Prescription Ordering Direct is used by patients at 70 GP practices across the area



A GP prescription service in Coventry and Nuneaton is set to be axed. Patients at 70 GP services across the area use the Prescription Ordering Direct (POD).

It allows them to call a dedicated number to speak to an experienced health professional when needing to reorder a repeat prescription. But CoventryLive can reveal that it is to be stopped in March.

The move to an online app service will impact patients, many of whom are elderly, who may not use mobile phones. The decision has been made by the NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB).

A post on its website explains about the decision to axe the POD service. It reads: "The Prescription Ordering Direct service will be closing at the end of March 2024.

"Further guidance and information will be added to this website, and your GP practice will contact you in due course. Whilst the POD service continues to operate as normal until then, there may be delays in the usual turnaround times for repeat prescriptions.

"Please DO NOT contact your GP practice. You will be contacted directly in the next one-two months.

"In preparation for the closure of the service, we would urge those who haven’t already to sign up for the NHS App or Patient Access App. These apps allows you to access a range of NHS services, including ordering repeat prescriptions and nominating a pharmacy you would like to collect them from.

"It’s simple to use and will allow you to continue ordering your prescriptions online. You can download the NHS App to your mobile device via the App Store or Google Play.

"For more information on the NHS or Patient Access Apps, please visit https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/ or https://www.patientaccess.com/" CoventryLive has contacted the NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) over the decision to stop the service.

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Poor value for money prescription service axed



A medicine prescription service is being scrapped because officials say it does not provide value for money.

The NHS Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) service was set up to cut waste and save millions of pounds per year.

However, despite being used by dozens of GP practices in Coventry and Warwickshire it will close at the end of March.

Coventry City Council’s health scrutiny board will discuss the change next week.

The POD service was established in the region in 2015 and takes orders from patients online and over the phone, which are then passed to a GP to be signed-off before going to a pharmacy to be dispensed.

It was estimated the service was saving about £6m per year, according to a council briefing in December 2018.

People ordering from the POD were asked about their existing stock of medicine, helping to reduce waste and reduce stockpiling, the briefing added.

It said patients also found the service convenient and reduced GP workloads.

But health bosses are now axing the service, citing a “lack of value for money” as well as worsening performance and operational problems.

They said GP surgeries using the service would go back to dealing directly with repeat prescriptions and be given access to a £200,000 funding pot to help with the change.

A report into the decision has conceded that discontinuing the service could add to GPs’ workload.

“We are clear that this is a time when primary care is already under significant pressure and the ICB is committed to supporting our GP practices to manage any potential issues,” it said.

Patients are set to receive double prescriptions before it ends, so they have enough to cover the early weeks in April, in an effort to reduce the impact on GP services.

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My pharmacy used to reorder for me. Why they can't go back to that system beats me?

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Prescription service users in Coventry 'must be supported'



Coventry residents who use a medicine prescription scheme must be fully supported as the service winds down, a champion of local healthcare has said.

Since a 2015 rollout in Coventry and Warwickshire, POD allowed prescriptions to be taken directly from patients of 70 GP surgeries online and by phone.

But the system ends in March, drawing caution from Healthwatch Coventry.

Under the change, surgeries are to go back to being directly in charge of distributing repeat prescriptions, ending an arrangement that, according to the watchdog, has been "important" for patients, albeit one with "ongoing issues".

Healthwatch Coventry also said it was concerned that some service users may be left unsupported during a transitional period in which smartphone apps had been suggested as a means of accessing medication.

Healthwatch Coventry said some people had encountered "long waits" on the phone or had to "make multiple phone calls" while using the service.

But it added it was concerned that POD staff were "likely to move on" during a three-month transition period, adding this would "reduce [the] capacity to support people".

Service users have been advised to sign up for the NHS or Patient Access app but Healthwatch Coventry has labelled that approach "not suitable for all".

The group called on the region's Integrated Care Board (ICB) to provide "clear and consistent support" to people who could not access apps to order medication.

Ruth Light, chief officer at Healthwatch Coventry, said the closure "must avoid disadvantaging local people" who had relied on phones to reorder medication or those who had family or carers who ordered on their behalf.

"People must not be left with gaps in their medication due to the transition or be unclear how to resolve any problems," she said.

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After listening to a long-winded, pre-recorded message:

"All our agents are busy, please call back later."

It's like playing the lottery at £1 a time for the calls.

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My last ever call took 50 minutes to answer and cost me £12!

I have no complaints about the staff though, they worked an extra half hour after closing time in order to take my call.

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The new system appears to have broken down already?

There was a long queue at Morrisons and the pharmacist told me the prescriptions are not getting through from the surgeries to the pharmacy!