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[Katejo]

My GP practice won't give me a further repeat prescription for patches until I have completed their online  review form. The problem with the form is that the design is very poor. In the section about menopause symptoms which I might have, there is only a very basic list covering things like hot flushes , night sweats, brittle nails etc but none of them applies to me. I want to add vaginal atrophy, prevention of osteoporosis and muscles/joint aches but I don't have the option to add anything. I am wondering whether to lie and tick one of them just to get it past the GP. I have already messaged the reception about this but with no satisfactory reply.

Has anyone else come across this? I don't know whether it is a standard form used by all practices.

I decided to go ahead with the form. I found a way to get around the problem by adding additional text to my reply about which HRT I took. I added Vagifem and stated that VA & osteoporosis were  missing from their questions. 

[sheila99]

My gp doesn't have a form but imo it's better to lie than to risk not getting hrt.

[sheila99]

The winner is the woman who is best rested and most content with life.

I want a 'like' button.

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

Katejo - It is crazy that we have to jump through so many hoops these days. A tick box exercise can never replace a face to face consultation but who gets those anymore?

I hope your tactic of adding to the form is successful but if there are further problems I would suddenly develop night sweats and flushes if you know what I mean lol.

poppytoast -  I agree with sheila99, you definitely deserve a 'like' for your comments!


Take care ladies.

K.

[CLKD]

So far our Surgery hasn't initiated a 'form'.  R U able to trot along to the Surgery with the list of your symptoms?  It shows again how GPs aren't engaging with womens' requirements.  Would they have a form for heart treatment, diabetic care etc.?  Or Viagra ? 

[Katejo]

It's the prescription game. Only needed when your GP has less than thirty seconds to hear and evaluate your entire medical history.
Object of the game; obtain your chosen HRT on prescription
Rules and tactics; Google everything to do with menopause and decide on a course of HRT. find the symptoms most often relieved using your chosen medication and present these symptoms after priming you GP by name dropping the medicine a couple of times first.
If the GP doesn't choose your name dropped med suggest it directly.
The winner is the woman who is best rested and most content with life.

  I am already on the HRT and don't need to change the type. It is just that my repeat prescriptions had been blocked until I completed the review.

[Katejo]

So far our Surgery hasn't initiated a 'form'.  R U able to trot along to the Surgery with the list of your symptoms?  It shows again how GPs aren't engaging with womens' requirements.  Would they have a form for heart treatment, diabetic care etc.?  Or Viagra ?

  I had already messaged the reception to point out that the symptoms on the form were incomplete but got no help. Going to their reception is pointless. I have tried before to leave a simple message about something else but I was sent home to do it online.

[sheila99]

So if you say no symptoms because hrt is working do they stop your hrt?
They did this after my testosterone blood test, levels normal therefore no treatment required. Idiots. They're normal because of the treatment.

[CLKD]

I would be stamping my feet  .  Last year it was muted that all prescriptions had to be ordered on-line, I put foot down with firm hand and explained that a) I don't have access via e-mail and b) I don't have a 'phone with an app.  Have U considered speaking to the Practice Manager, there must be a lot of elderly without lap tops etc..  It's another way, as with withdrawing cash, of isolating the elderly. 

[Katejo]

So if you say no symptoms because hrt is working do they stop your hrt?
They did this after my testosterone blood test, levels normal therefore no treatment required. Idiots. They're normal because of the treatment.

The issue wasn't about symptoms that I currently have. It was about reasons for taking HRT. Only about 6 symptoms/reasons were in the list  and I don't have any of them. I just added VA and prevention of osteoporosis plus joint/muscle aches in a separate answer.

[DottyD68]

Hi Katejo,

We have to complete an online e-consult form in order to get any form of communication / consultation with a GP or nurse at our surgery. It's crackers. It takes about 20 mins to fill in and like you you are forced to answer many irrelevant questions because they don't have a full list of options. Last time I did this relating to a menopause issue I ticked the "hot flushes" box along with others because there weren't any other relevant ones and then when I eventually got a telephone appointment with a GP had to explain that I didn't have any of those symptoms. It's so inefficient and a waste of everyone's time as well as being stressful. Apparently it's progress.

On a positive it's a lot quicker than spending a whole morning trying trying to get through to reception between 8-11am in order to get a call back at "some point" before 6.30pm that day. At least they do respond by email and give you a day when you need to be available to be contacted at "some point" between 8.00-6.30pm 

Once we do finally get an appointment, the GPs in our surgery are pretty good. Its just getting through the gatekeepers that's the most difficult part.

Hope you get sorted.

[CLKD]

I object to doing their work for nowt!

[Katejo]

Hi Katejo,

We have to complete an online e-consult form in order to get any form of communication / consultation with a GP or nurse at our surgery. It's crackers. It takes about 20 mins to fill in and like you you are forced to answer many irrelevant questions because they don't have a full list of options. Last time I did this relating to a menopause issue I ticked the "hot flushes" box along with others because there weren't any other relevant ones and then when I eventually got a telephone appointment with a GP had to explain that I didn't have any of those symptoms. It's so inefficient and a waste of everyone's time as well as being stressful. Apparently it's progress.

On a positive it's a lot quicker than spending a whole morning trying trying to get through to reception between 8-11am in order to get a call back at "some point" before 6.30pm that day. At least they do respond by email and give you a day when you need to be available to be contacted at "some point" between 8.00-6.30pm 

Once we do finally get an appointment, the GPs in our surgery are pretty good. Its just getting through the gatekeepers that's the most difficult part.

Hope you get sorted.

   Yes my practice has a similar arrangement which I hate because so many questions are irrelevant. The instructions on the HRT form were that I would have to fill out the complete online form if I wanted any change to my HRT. fortunately I don't want any.  even after filling in the online request form, most appointments are phone only which I dislike intensely. I want face to face and also phone appts are offered but can be any time between about 9am and 6pm. It is no good saying that I will be on a train until the afternoon so please wait until then.....   I know they are busy but so am I.

[DottyD68]

We have to have a phone appointment now (which can be at anytime between 8am and 6.30pm) and if the GP then thinks you need to be seen you are then asked to go to the surgery at a mutually convenient time. So much of everyone's time is wasted this way. Bring back the good old days when you could phone up for an appointment and go to that appointment within the next few days. I appreciate that there are some situations that can be dealt with over the phone, but what I don't get is that they can't even give you a rough time slot e.g. between 10-12 so at least you are not sitting around attached to your phone and can get on with other stuff during the day. Its like we are beholden to the system. I dont blame the GPs personally - I think it's just the system within which they have to operate and it's not good imo. 

[sheila99]

I like phone appointments. We get a 2 hour time slot and it saves sitting in the surgery waiting for 1.5 hours while everyone else shares their bugs.