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Australia and New Zealand

New Zealand availability and a long wait

Started 26 October 2024 · 19 replies · 218 hearts · read 3.2k times

OzrenZagreb, HR · 26 October 2024
1.7 years ago

New Zealand availability and a long wait — putting it in its own thread so it does not get lost in the check-in.

Anyone else here in my part of the world? I would like to compare notes.

I am the only person I know doing this within a considerable distance, so this circle is genuinely my whole peer group on it.

The seasonal side of this is a real planning problem where I live and I have not seen it discussed anywhere.

I am some distance from anywhere and every arrangement I have made is shaped by that, and most of what is written assumes otherwise.

Thanks. Local experience especially welcome — I have plenty of advice from elsewhere and none of it applies.

73

BodhiByron Bay, AU
#1

Something practical: I keep everything in the coolest room of the house and I check it with a thermometer in January.

6

TavitaApia, WS
#2

What surprised me was how much of this my pharmacist handled without me needing another appointment.

11

PetraFacilitatorMelbourne, Australia
#3

Speaking as a facilitator: telephone and video reviews have come up in every regional thread this year and are still not offered unprompted in most places.

16me too 1

CatoAntwerp, BE
#4

Bodhi — yes, and the bit that took me longest to accept was the next part.

The travel between islands and the timing of collections is a real planning problem and I have built a fortnight of slack into everything.

14

MarenBremen, DE
#5

Something I got right was asking my pharmacy to hold stock for me when supply was uncertain, which they were happy to do.

12

DotFalmouth, UK
#6

Coming back to what Cato wrote further up, because it is the bit I keep thinking about.

What I would flag is that the criteria were updated and my GP was working from the previous version for a while.

10

OttaviaBologna, IT
#7

I found the rural arrangements here more developed than I expected, mostly because the distances force them to be.

16

AriaAuckland, NZ
#8

My honest report is that the care has been good, the supply has been the difficulty, and both are better than they were.

8me too 6

BramwellRipon, UK
#9

My honest experience is that this has been easier here than the online discussion suggested it would be.

14

HollisBath, UK
#10

Something worth knowing: my review interval was extendable given the distance, and it was granted the moment I explained.

12me too 5

BevanSwansea, UK
#11

My experience is that things that worked here were arranged locally and that national advice was often not applicable to my situation.

7me too 2

OrrinGlasgow, UK
#12

Building on what Hollis wrote rather than answering the original question.

I would say get on good terms with one pharmacy. Mine has looked after me through two supply problems and one house move.

10

CallaWellington, NZ
#13

What I got wrong was assuming a shortage was permanent. It resolved in about five months and I nearly stopped in month two.

12

GusStirling, UK
#14

Somebody in this circle here gave me the exact sequence of things to ask for, and it saved me two wasted appointments.

11

TamarPlymouth, UK
#15

Picking up Calla’s point rather than starting a new one.

My reviews are six-monthly by video and I have not been into the practice in a year, which suits me entirely.

13

NoraDublin, IE
#16

The heat in summer is a genuine storage problem and I bought a proper cool bag after one very worrying afternoon.

9

NyreeChristchurch, NZ
#17

Holding this with you rather than answering it.

12

PetraFacilitatorMelbourne, Australia
#18

Facilitator note: reading a thread like this can stir something up of its own. Our support resources page sets out the kinds of service worth knowing about, whether or not you need one today.

15me too 3

OttiHarrogate, UK
#19

Gently disagreeing with Nyree, or rather adding the other half of it.

My experience of the shortage period was that the pharmacies communicated much better than any official source did.

10