What you told us about prescription ordering

We developed a short survey that was available online for 2 weeks in October 2023. This was shared through our Healthwatch Wiltshire channels and by Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board (BSW ICB). We also visited several pharmacies across Wiltshire to hear patients’ views on prescription ordering.

What were the key findings?

• Most people who responded to the survey use SystmOnline (36%) to get their prescriptions. The next most popular were Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) (26%) and NHS App (18 %).
• 80% of respondents have repeat prescriptions and 60% of those who answered said that their medication is extremely important to them.
• Blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes were the main medical conditions for which people were prescribed medication.
• Most respondents found getting their prescriptions easy, although there were several comments about long waits to get the medication.
• Several people were worried by shortages or unavailability of their brand of medication which had led to delays and frequently having to obtain a new prescription. They told us that often they would have to visit multiple pharmacies to find medication.
• People using POD were less satisfied with the service than those using NHS App, SystmOnline or online pharmacies.
• There are wide differences across Wiltshire in the options used to get prescriptions.

Conclusions and recommendations

Generally, people told us they found ordering their prescriptions easy or very easy. Prescriptions were ordered in a variety of ways depending on where the respondents lived and there were several key themes that came through. This report makes several recommendations based on what we heard.