Your prescription, your choice

You have the right to collect medicines that have been prescribed for you from any pharmacy you choose. Your choice should not be influenced by letters you receive in the post, or by any doctor or pharmacist. However, we are hearing from members that they are feeling pressurised by GPs surgeries to collect their prescriptions from a specific pharmacy – either at the GP surgery or on the High Street. Nobody, including GPs, surgery staff or pharmacists, should try to influence your choice unless it’s specifically in your best interests as a patient and customer. It’s against NHS rules and denies people the right to choose the pharmacy service that best suits their needs.

This means that SCI people are being discouraged from using other suppliers, including SIA Healthcare who can better meet their needs. We established SIA Healthcare to help meet the unique healthcare needs of SCI people and offer specialist support for all of your urology, stoma, pharmaceutical and lifestyle needs. Under the scheme – both your appliances and medication prescriptions are delivered at the same time, discreetly to your door and your own personal adviser on the SIA Healthcare Team will call each month to discuss your order. Most pharmacies do not offer these important benefits and the scheme has been so successful that over 2,200 orders were placed by SCI people last month alone.

Yet some surgeries are trying to curb access to schemes like SIA Healthcare, even though they are specifically prohibited from doing so.

If you feel that you have been pressured to use a particular pharmacy, or someone has not been completely open about their financial interest in you doing so, you have the right to complain to the NHSE which is responsible for commissioning NHS GP and Pharmacy Services at: Address: PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email:[email protected]

Alternatively, you can contact SIA and we can make the complaint on your behalf.