No Tamiflu Outreach ServiceSo this week I went in search on Tamiflu for a elderly lady who requested it. I was only asked to use the internet for her, she continued the rest. She had developed Swine Flu symptoms and felt she ought to have Tamiflu. Rumours flown to her implied that Tamiflu can be obtained on the internet quite easily. This elderly lady is in her sixties with multiple medical problems. She often calls on others to assist her but this week no one was available in her local area. She lives about 15 miles from any city. So my adventures of trying to obtain Tamiflu commenced one bright morning.
1. The first website to visit is this one. NHS Choices on Swine Flu. Again, it isn't obvious where the online Tamiflu can be booked from.
2. There is a small link on the left that takes you to the National Pandemic Flu Service.
3. Again from point 2, it isn't obvious where you get Tamiflu from until you read through the entire rubbish and come across this. This is the Swine Flu Online Assessment.
4. You then move to this section by clicking on the relevant "I agree"to everything button. You then complete the assessment. It is at the end of this that you get a reference number. The idea is that you print out your reference number and find the nearest collection point. And there lies the difficulty! I would have thought that all pharmacies in the UK could have been collection points but clearly this has not been the case.
5. The next issue was where to obtain the Tamiflu from. You have to take your personal ID, the patient's ID and go down to the specific collection point.
6. So the collection point consisted of 3 chemists in the City 10-15 miles away from the elderly lady. These are some collection points. This elderly lady was housebound, did not have her own transport, was fearful that the freezing cold would aggravate her already deteriorating flu.
7. She rang her local pharmacy who told her that they didn't dispense Tamiflu. They sent her to the main Boots in the small town.
8. She rang Boots who told her that they did not supply Tamiflu without a doctors script. The National Pandemic Flu Service Tamiflu ID would only be used in the specific chemists 15 miles away.
9. She rang the doctor who told her that it probably wasn't swine flu over the phone and refused to give her a script.
10. She then rang her PCT and asked for help with the collection points. The PCT stated that she would need to ring the National Pandemic Flu Service ID. She told them that she had already been there and they suggested contact with the PCT.
11. The elderly lady subsequently decided to give up, have a cuppa, commence some ginger tea and hope she didn't develop complications.
12. She then opened her post that day to find a letter telling her that Swine Flu vaccinations were happening and that the district nurses would ring her. She rang the District Nurses whose number was engaged for 7 hours. It has now been nearly a week with no news of the Swine flu vaccine.
The elderly lady developed Swine Flu but is recovering slowly.
And there we have it, Tamiflu accessibility in action in the vulnerable group. In Africa, you have an outreach service to target isolated groups. In the UK, the elderly just have to fend for themselves.
1. The first website to visit is this one. NHS Choices on Swine Flu. Again, it isn't obvious where the online Tamiflu can be booked from.
2. There is a small link on the left that takes you to the National Pandemic Flu Service.
3. Again from point 2, it isn't obvious where you get Tamiflu from until you read through the entire rubbish and come across this. This is the Swine Flu Online Assessment.
4. You then move to this section by clicking on the relevant "I agree"to everything button. You then complete the assessment. It is at the end of this that you get a reference number. The idea is that you print out your reference number and find the nearest collection point. And there lies the difficulty! I would have thought that all pharmacies in the UK could have been collection points but clearly this has not been the case.
5. The next issue was where to obtain the Tamiflu from. You have to take your personal ID, the patient's ID and go down to the specific collection point.
6. So the collection point consisted of 3 chemists in the City 10-15 miles away from the elderly lady. These are some collection points. This elderly lady was housebound, did not have her own transport, was fearful that the freezing cold would aggravate her already deteriorating flu.
7. She rang her local pharmacy who told her that they didn't dispense Tamiflu. They sent her to the main Boots in the small town.
8. She rang Boots who told her that they did not supply Tamiflu without a doctors script. The National Pandemic Flu Service Tamiflu ID would only be used in the specific chemists 15 miles away.
9. She rang the doctor who told her that it probably wasn't swine flu over the phone and refused to give her a script.
10. She then rang her PCT and asked for help with the collection points. The PCT stated that she would need to ring the National Pandemic Flu Service ID. She told them that she had already been there and they suggested contact with the PCT.
11. The elderly lady subsequently decided to give up, have a cuppa, commence some ginger tea and hope she didn't develop complications.
12. She then opened her post that day to find a letter telling her that Swine Flu vaccinations were happening and that the district nurses would ring her. She rang the District Nurses whose number was engaged for 7 hours. It has now been nearly a week with no news of the Swine flu vaccine.
The elderly lady developed Swine Flu but is recovering slowly.
And there we have it, Tamiflu accessibility in action in the vulnerable group. In Africa, you have an outreach service to target isolated groups. In the UK, the elderly just have to fend for themselves.
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