"Medication change without discussion"

About: General practices in Tayside

(as a service user),

I have fibromyalgia and period pain so severe that I need to use a crutch to get around on the first day or so of my period. I've also got IBS. I'm in pain quite a lot of the time, and have had painkillers on repeat prescription long term. We're not even talking about oxycodone and gabapentin, it's just naproxen and co-codamol. It's not even strong enough to make me pain free but it is enough to maintain a manageable level of pain so I can work and get around.

Last night at ten to five, I got a call to say that one of the doctors has decided I don't need my painkillers any more. No explanation why, and the nearest appointment is over a week away. The poor receptionist handled my abject panic very well, but the decision from the medical team to suddenly remove analgesia from someone with multiple long term conditions who struggles with chronic pain is just absolutely diabolical. I would recommend in future that if a doctor is curious why someone is on multiple painkillers, they should in the first instance take the trouble to read that patient's notes. Perhaps they could use common sense and notice, if the patient has seen their usual care doctor 3 days ago and no painkillers were removed from their repeat, perhaps things were intended to stay the way they are? And if they're still confused, they could maybe have a discussion with the patient before refusing to dispense? 

It's worth noting that most of the time my experience here is pretty good, and my usual care dr  is very thorough and excellent, but sometimes these little things happen that just baffle me. I'm very curious who made the decision to refuse my analgesia without discussion, and I will be phoning on Monday to find out their name so I can make sure my upcoming complaint is specific.

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Responses

Response from Susan Anderson, Care Opinion Administrator, Patient Experience Team, NHS Tayside last week
Susan Anderson
Care Opinion Administrator, Patient Experience Team,
NHS Tayside
Submitted on 04/03/2025 at 15:29
Published on Care Opinion at 15:29


Dear OrdinaryBarracuda

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback about your General Practice (GP). Feedback is very valuable to all areas of the NHS, and I'm sorry to hear that your recent experience was not positive. Unfortunately, GP practices are not part of Care Opinion at this time, as each GP Practice is an independent business. So that they can see your feedback, we would recommend that you feedback your experience directly to the practice to allow this to be passed on to the staff. The Practice Manager can give you with details of how to provide this feedback to them, as per their Complaints and Feedback Policy.

Kind regards

Susan

Care Opinion Administrator

NHS Tayside

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