Scotland, and what the difference has meant for me

Something I got right was writing to the practice manager rather than the GP when the administrative side went wrong. Much more effective.

The supply situation in my area has been steady for eighteen months after a difficult period, and my pharmacy tells me straight when something is short.

The HSE and NHS pathways are not the same and I have watched people in this circle get quite confused reading each other's experience.

I moved between areas and had to start most of the process again, which nobody warned me about and which cost me four months.

My review is annual and the bloods are done at the practice, and the whole arrangement takes about ninety minutes of my year.

I went privately for the first year and then transferred across, and the transfer was much smoother than everybody had told me it would be.

Here, reading, and glad you posted.

Something worth knowing: my repeat arrangement needed setting up explicitly and did not happen automatically as I had assumed.

I found the waiting the hardest part and the actual care, once it started, entirely good.

My pharmacist has been the most consistently available person in the whole system and I would say that to anybody here.

Nothing here is medical advice and local pathways change, so the person at your practice will always know more than any thread.

Nothing to add except that I am glad this thread exists.