A DISABLED woman from Newquay is spearheading a NHS drive to encourage people to order their repeat prescriptions online.

Kate [surname withheld] was hesitant to move her prescriptions online because she was worried about her medication, including fentanyl, going missing in the post. But having seen her parents switch to an online pharmacy, the 43-year-old is ready to do the same to treat several long-term health conditions.

Kate was having difficulty managing 15 different prescription items multiple repeat prescriptions as a wheelchair user, including struggling to physically access her local pharmacy.

Her local chemist’s entrance was so narrow she could not easily get her wheelchair through and had to wait outside or send in a carer. She has also been left frustrated after making the journey only to find her medication unavailable.

Kate said: “I was spending three hours a month sorting my prescriptions, then I’d struggle to get my wheelchair into the chemists.”

Seven in 10 adults managing repeat prescriptions now use digital tools to order them, with the NHS App the most popular method, regularly used by more than a quarter, 28 per cent.

A record 7.6-million repeat prescriptions were ordered on the NHS App in July 2, but despite most requesting medication digitally, two in three adults still collect in person, which can come with a huge time cost.

Patients on repeat prescriptions on average take one hour and 36 minutes collecting them each month, equivalent to two-and-a-half working days a year. They also spend an average of £6.50 a month on associated travel costs, or £78 a year. Across the UK this equates to an annual economic cost of £11.5-billion.

More than half 53 per cent of people managing a repeat prescription in the last 12 months say they had to make a second trip to a pharmacy because their prescription wasn’t ready, while a quarter, 24 per cent, abandoned a visit due to the size of the queue.

One in three, 34 per cent, report not getting a prescription due to pharmacy and GP mix-ups, and one in six had to pay for an emergency supply of medication as their prescription wasn’t ready at their pharmacy.

The estimated economic cost of patients collecting repeat medicine is £11.5-billion a year, with those managing medication taking two-and-a-half working days on average picking up items and £78 on travel and parking

A new report by two leading primary care experts calls for improvements to the system: making repeat prescriptions easier to track, tailoring them to people with severe health needs and ensuring patients can easily use both community and online pharmacies.

Phil Day, superintendent pharmacist at Pharmacy2U, said: “The figures show a growing cost not only to patients, but to the NHS itself. As the population ages and more people manage multiple long-term conditions, the pressure on GP practices and pharmacies to process, track and dispense repeat medication is only going to increase.

"By increasing awareness of options available, patients and the health service can streamline the process, improve care and protect people’s precious time.”