What Preps are you doing this week? Part 13

[Yorkshire Andy]

Did a bit of additional servicing on the car this morning before my jollys in a couple of weeks

Replaced the fuel filter on the car nice and easy job and £7 for a febi (German) filter and about 10 minutes to change (,took my time no rushing) cut the old filter open and it was spotlessly clean but it's been on 4 years so due doing....

Then drained the antifreeze/ coolant out and refilled with fresh it's a 5 year interval on my car at that point the lubrication (vital for the water pump and other additives (anti corrosion (aluminium radiator and cylinder head) / antifreeze) begin to Loose their effectiveness so £15 for 5l is money well spent ..


Also used a degreaser/ all purpose cleaner and gave the radiator a good spray then a gentle rinse with a hose to give the car all the help I can to run cool in this silly hot weather it won't do any harm

(Car had a big service earlier this year by me (oil / oil filter/ cabin filter/ induction filter, spark plugs , new front shockers and lower arms, brakes cleaned)

Topped tyre pressures up too with my new norco cordless pump which so far is great as you don't need to plug it in so topping up trailers you dont need to mess about

How much was that cordless pump Andy, I'm looking for something to keep in my car.

Not the cheapest

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NOCO-Air-AL5-B ... d_source=1

BUT

You get what you pay for when it comes to this sort of stuff cheap stuff doesn't last .. added bonus for me is if I'm sorting my trailer I don't need to move the car close etc

[Frnc]

Food for thought? Reminds me, I should get the bean sprout growers going again.

[Frnc]

This might be a bit obscure, but it's useful to me and my preps. I have invented a way to glue two worn down bars of soap together. Much easier to hold in the shower. Get a fine cheese grater and gently grate one side of each bar a couple of times in two directions on each. Run under tap for a few seconds. Then hold them together and gently move slightly until they lock into their groves. Leave on a soap drying stand (cheap wood thing, makes soap last longer) for a couple of days.
Don't forget to rinse the grater!
Be a bit gentle first time you use it. I've used one three or four times now and it's not come apart.

[GeeGee]

The medicine shortage is getting worse. SHMBO needs asthma medication. Tried to get the prescription yesterday but they didn't have one of the inhalers in. "Try tomorrow". Tried this morning - still not in. Had a word with the pharmacist who I know and indeed the shortage is now spilling over to other medications.

Only suggestion was either to wait until Monday or he print off the prescription and I try some of the big pharmacies like Boots or Tesco. OR if al else fails, go to A&E. Fortunately we can last into start of next week.

Did you ever get the meds ? I'm waiting on my BP repeat prescription that that pharmacy has had for a week now ..
Spoken to them havent received deliveries spoken to doc others in same boat
Asked if I can go elsewhere but apparently other pharmacies are waiting
Don't know if it's certain areas they can't really tell me much
Fortunately I've put in early before so have a couple of weeks left but that's all ..May be worth putting in at the earliest date for anyone on repeat even if your area is fine but I cant get a answer as to why its happening ..

[itsybitsy]

The medicine shortage is getting worse. SHMBO needs asthma medication. Tried to get the prescription yesterday but they didn't have one of the inhalers in. "Try tomorrow". Tried this morning - still not in. Had a word with the pharmacist who I know and indeed the shortage is now spilling over to other medications.

Only suggestion was either to wait until Monday or he print off the prescription and I try some of the big pharmacies like Boots or Tesco. OR if al else fails, go to A&E. Fortunately we can last into start of next week.

Did you ever get the meds ? I'm waiting on my BP repeat prescription that that pharmacy has had for a week now ..
Spoken to them havent received deliveries spoken to doc others in same boat
Asked if I can go elsewhere but apparently other pharmacies are waiting
Don't know if it's certain areas they can't really tell me much
Fortunately I've put in early before so have a couple of weeks left but that's all ..May be worth putting in at the earliest date for anyone on repeat even if your area is fine but I cant get a answer as to why its happening ..

I had to pop into my local pharmacy a few weeks ago - not for a script - but when I got there there was about 10 people queuing for prescriptions ahead of me. Without exception, everyone was given a ticket IOU for the medication, as it wasn't in stock.

[GeraldTheBonzai]

The medicine shortage is getting worse. SHMBO needs asthma medication. Tried to get the prescription yesterday but they didn't have one of the inhalers in. "Try tomorrow". Tried this morning - still not in. Had a word with the pharmacist who I know and indeed the shortage is now spilling over to other medications.

Only suggestion was either to wait until Monday or he print off the prescription and I try some of the big pharmacies like Boots or Tesco. OR if al else fails, go to A&E. Fortunately we can last into start of next week.

Did you ever get the meds ? I'm waiting on my BP repeat prescription that that pharmacy has had for a week now ..
Spoken to them havent received deliveries spoken to doc others in same boat
Asked if I can go elsewhere but apparently other pharmacies are waiting
Don't know if it's certain areas they can't really tell me much
Fortunately I've put in early before so have a couple of weeks left but that's all ..May be worth putting in at the earliest date for anyone on repeat even if your area is fine but I cant get a answer as to why its happening ..

I did - it came in Monday afternoon. Also had a long chat with the pharmacist as to what is actually going on.
In the past, the pharmacies used to get their orders fulfilled by a regional wholesalers, who in turn got their supplies from national wholesalers, of which there were about 5 or 6. The pharmacy collects all the prescription request together, then tries to place an order with, historically, the regional wholesalers. If stuff wasn't available with one wholesaler, they could probably get it from another regional wholesaler with the worst case scenario being that they had to go to a national wholesaler. Order were then delivered via a local courier to the pharmacy - everything was "local".

What has happened down here in the South, and is starting to happen elsewhere, is that the regional wholesalers are shutting down. Pharmacies down here therefore have to place their order with the national wholesalers, the number of which has reduced. These are the same wholesalers who supply Boots, the NHS etc. Once an order has been placed, the medications are dispatched but via a national courier like Yodel.

So the pattern is : pharmacist down here tries to get their order fulfilled by a national wholesaler. These dont all carry the same drugs, so the pharmacist has to shop around looking for the drugs. The order then gets sent, by courier pickup, to the courier hub - in general in the Midlands. Courier then sends drugs to regional dispatch point, which then sends it out for delivery. Now, a lot of this is automated, but none the less you can see where the time goes. All of this contributes to the delay in getting meds into the shop. And thats ignoring the situation where the national wholesaler is waiting for drugs to come from the manufacturer.

[GeeGee]

Ahh makes sense its boots with me attached to gp surgery
I suppose all we can do is try get ahead somehow ...
What a mess

[GeraldTheBonzai]

To give you another example of this lunacy, we have some direct order meds coming. They entered Royal Mails system at HWDC (Heathrow). With their normal competence, RM sent the parcel to BN1 (Brighton) rather than BN11 (us). Now, us to Brighton? About 15 miles. So wheres the parcel?

On its route back to Heathrow. So that it can be sent to Crawley (where it has been once on the trip to Brighton) so that they can then send it to the BN11 delivery office, so that Postman Pat can deliver it. Might get it for the weekend.

[GillyBee]

And to add to the fun, pharmacies pay for the medicines up front and are reimbursed at the NHS "book rate". Which is fine when prices are stable but if they suddenly shoot up due to a supply issue (like Hormuz) the pharmacy struggles to find anything at a price that wont leave them shortchanged. Which is why pharmacies are closing down or going bust all over the country.

[GeraldTheBonzai]

However was given a tip.

Companies like pharmacy2u that do online prescription fulfilment, have direct access to the wholesalers. I personally don't want to use them, as they are part of the problem that is putting local pharmacies out of business. However I was told they have stock checkers and indeed they do. Heres the pharmacy2u one

https://www.pharmacy2u.co.uk/prescripti ... ck-checker

If you are having difficulty getting a medication, look it up on the stock checker. If they say they have no stock, then you are facing a national shortage. However, if they have stock, then its a logistics problem. You can also go here:

https://mediwatch.co.uk/shortages

This gives information on current shortages - I think its sort of live - with condition specific information.