Strange Request At Doctors Surgery..!

alavahalf | 18:13 Mon 10th Dec 2018 | Body & Soul

24 Answers

Just attended my GP's surgery to have a dressing changed. Here we are in the supposedly affluent South East, in a surgery with more than 20 GPs.
The nurse advised me that I really need to return in 2 days time for another dressing change. She said they are just about out of stock of the materials needed, so she will write me a prescription, so as I can collect the dressings etc. from the Chemist and bring them with me to my next appointment !
Am I missing something here ... where will it all end ?

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Hurt Ankle

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rowanwitch

Best Answer

Perfectly logical once you have worked with the system. It's not like you could keep a supply in a small cupboard like the old days. Most wound care nurses would need a large store room just to have a couple of days supply of every type. Not an option for even a large GP practice.

07:55 Tue 11th Dec 2018

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murraymints

Same happens here, for patients with on going needs....storage for dressings etc could be a problem for surgeries with many similar cases...makes sense , especially if home visits from nurse is required..

rowanwitch

alavahalf

Question Author

Having never worked in the system, it all became clear today on my return to the surgery. My first visit was too the chemist to collect the prescription where they had a large polythene bag waiting for me.
Then to the surgery to see the nurse, I thought I would be handing the dressings over to the nurse who would keep them for her stock. She then explained about the 'low stock' situation and that if everybody who visited the surgery used the same amount of dressings I had been issued with and they had to store them, then they would need a few shipping containers in the car park to hold the stock for a week. It is a better situation for the chemist to hold our stocks.
So I must hold my hands up and say sorry in thinking that something underhand was going on within the NHS.
When I was leaving the nurse said "dont forget to take your bag of dressings .. we have nowhere to store them and dont forget to bring them back next week "