Life Admin: Pharmacy2U

When Elfie was diagnosed with a chronic health condition, one thing that struck me – along with the life-long implications of it all – was how much sheer admin is involved. Even now nearly 8 years down the line we spend so much time ping-ponging between GPs, Consultants, clinics and pharmacies that you need to possess the diary management skills of an Executive-level PA to keep up with it all.

Though my organizational skills have improved greatly in this time (thank god for the collaborative iCal, is all I’m saying), there are some things that still cause me umpteen headaches when it comes to the admin of Elfie’s condition, one of which is her medications. She’s on a couple of different kinds, one of which is fairly rare and, because of her young age, must be administered in a solution rather than by tablet. It’s a special order medication which means it’s never in stock at any pharmacies and is always made to order.

A fact that, for some reason, pharmacies never seem to grasp very easily.

When Elfie was diagnosed with a chronic health condition, one thing that struck me was how much sheer admin is involved.

The thing about her medication is that they are life-saving. If she didn’t take her medicine she would fall into a coma, her body would go into shock and she would have a heart attack. So being able to get hold of this solution is pretty paramount – she can’t miss a dose.

So you can imagine how worrying it is on every single occasion her medicine order is messed up at the pharmacy, something that happens roughly 50% of the time. I’ve tried three different pharmacies in our local town and it’s always been the same: half the time, something goes wrong. And, as her medications have a short shelf life (they normally last 8 weeks), it’s not as if I can bulk-order them.

It’s a big stress to make sure everyone who needs them – me, her dad, her school – always has an in-date stock of her solutions. And it’s something that has caused me many a grey hair these past few years (as if I need any more…).

So when I was approached by the online medication service Pharmacy2U to try their apparently seamless services recently, I had a couple of questions:

1 – Don’t online pharmacies only sell little blue pills?

2 –  Are online pharmacies really legit?

3 – If this legit non blue pill online pharmacy business really can automate my medications and remove the headache of it all, where do I sign up?

I registered on the site, inputted my GPs details and within 24 hours we were ready to go. As this was a new-to-us system I gave them  myself a few days buffer to allow for mistakes, and ordered Elfie’s prescription.

Two days after the order I had an email from one of Pharmacy2U’s Customer Service representatives to tell me her medication had to be ordered specifically, which was totally as expected, and three days after that I had notification of dispatch. The next day her medicine arrived on my doormat via Royal Mail. IT WAS AS EASY AS THAT.

I don’t want to get all superlative over something as mundane as a medicine delivery service, but compared with my usual hassle (order the prescription from the GP -> ring the pharmacy to make sure they have ordered the right medications -> go in to the pharmacy to collect it -> fanny around while they work out where it is/what’s gone wrong this time -> ring the GP to get them to confirm with the pharmacy the exact special order we need -> TEAR MY HAIR OUT), it was a breeze. I didn’t have to speak to anyone, I didn’t have to leave the house, I didn’t have to put my ‘Assertive Alice’ voice on to complain about the service. It was as simple as shopping at ASOS. Not quite as fun, but just as simple.

In addition to being really really easy, there was another advantage to using Pharmacy2U for Elfie’s medications. There are two manufacturers in the country who make her medicine: one version of it has a shelf life of four months and has a pleasant taste (tick), the other lasts for 8 weeks and has to be taken under duress and with lots of ‘yuck yuck yucks’. So obviously, every time I send Elfie’s prescription in to the pharmacy I request the former. Which, I was told by my pharmacist, had been discontinued a year ago. But good old Pharmacy2U managed to get hold of said discontinued medication, which not only lasts until August but apparently has the flavour of strawberries! Colour both Elfie and I thrilled. Absolute convenience aside, that’s reason enough to order from Pharmacy2U again.

Our verdict? Two big tasty thumbs up. It’s as seamless as promised, I can do it from the sofa, and I didn’t get any new grey hairs. If you’re a regular repeat prescription-person, it’ll make your Life Admin a whole lot simpler.

Huge thanks to Pharmacy2U, a website we love and use, for working with MTT.