"inept beyond words"

On 31 October, I sent the below complaint in to the surgery, via the e-mail address on their site. Almost a month on, I have yet to receive the decency of an acknowledgement, let alone a response.

On 24 Oct, I requested a repeat prescription of two months’ worth of 200mg sertraline via fax (as I usually do). I requested that, as per previous repeats, I'd like it to sent to Well Pharmacy, Northwich. Upon going to Well, on 30 Oct, I was told that my prescription was not ready for collection. I duly returned the following day, 31 Oct, only to be informed that the chemist hadn't received my request from the surgery. I rang the surgery and explained the situation, emphasising that I'd completely run out of medication (hence requesting the repeat prescription a week in advance). She told me that the prescription would be processed and available for collection from Well, by the end of the day (31 Oct).Once again, I returned to the pharmacy, and once again, I was informed that they hadn't received the request. I then phoned the surgery. This time to be told that my prescription had been signed off, but I would have to come in and collect it. I explained that my repeat prescription is always sent to the same pharmacy, only to be told that there was a 'system fault' which prevented this from happening (not that I was informed of this in the morning).

Part 2:

On 26 Nov, I requested – in person, this time - a repeat prescription of 200mg sertraline (two months’ supply) as, shock and horror, rather than having prescribed the correct amount previously, I only received 28 days’ worth. It is now 28 Nov, and I am completely out of my medication. I called Well Pharmacy for confirmation that my prescription had been received. Surprise, surprise, they don’t have it. Call the surgery, I was advised. So I did. As usual. And guess what, it’s closed for ‘essential staff training’. I am, therefore, powerless to do anything, aside from wait for this lot to get their acts together. What planet are they on if they think it acceptable to close, on a monthly basis, for ‘essential staff training’? If this were a private enterprise, they would have gone bust. As it is, they are free to treat patients as, at best, an inconvenience.

This is a truly shambolic level of care. I can’t begin to tell you how much undue stress you have caused me. Naively, I expected something – anything – to come of the complaint I raised. Predictably enough, this has not been the case. I didn’t want to leave a negative review online, but you have left me no choice. My next piece of correspondence will be to the Ombudsman. Time after time after time this happens. Is there any point in me saying that I would like a call from the Practice Manager?

Part 3 - it's now 13-days later. Checked with my chemist as am halfway through the emergency prescription. And guess what? Shock and horror! They STILL have yet to receive the prescription from this practice!