I feel dumped and on my own

I am sorry that you are on your own dealing with this. Were you allocated a named urology nurse when you were diagnosed?

Perhaps the secretary is seriously ill. Try calling the hospital and asking for the general number for gastroenterology, or look it up online.

Hi, I may be missing something but all my psa tests and checks have been done at the hospital and they call me in. 

I deliberately didn't want to go to the GP because they aren't as organised.  I like my GP but they do expect you to contact them.

I don't know about hormone or B12 injections but unlike the hospital it will be a big job for a GP to store medical supplies they hardly use or arrange a just in time system for each patient.

I don't know how you got to be using your GP but perhaps you should ask for hospital appointments.

There are two common patterns:-

- either the patient makes his 3 monthly / 12 weekly appointment, the nurse requests a repeat prescription from the doctor, orders in the injection a couple of days before and keeps it in his / her fridge until needed; or

- the patient picks up a repeat prescription from the chemist, takes it to the appointment and hands it to the nurse to administer

In some places, the GP administers the injection rather than a nurse. At our practice, the nurse is a prescribing nurse and can write the prescription herself.

I have 3 monthly check ups at a Cancer Centre. I arrange my next appointment before I leave. I also order my own Decapeptyl, pick it up from the pharmacy and arrange a date to have it administered. The same goes for my PSA blood test; arranged by me at the local medical centre. I never expected it to be any other way and certainly don’t feel hard done by having to do it myself, in fact I think prefer it that way.

Dave

There can be minor differences in the way things work locally. My GP has on file a request from my treating hospital that my PSA is checked every 3 months. I just tell the GP's receptionist when I would like it done and the receptionist arranges a suitable time with the Phlebotomist. I do have to present at the surgery to obtain the result which will only be given to me after having been seen by my GP.
I much prefer this to having to go to London from Devon each time which apart from obvious logistical draw back means I would have to rely on UCLH who have made numerous mistakes with my appointments. It was agreed that unless I am required to present in London for follow ups for tests/scans my general check ups would be by a telephone call to my home number. However, when the letter with the appointment arrived it said I should attend at Westmoreland Street and be prepared for tests etc. with details of how to get there appended. So not wanting to be caught out, I rang the Consultant's Secretary who said, no its just a telephone appointment. (This has happened several times). I am told they have no way of changing this and I will probably receive a reminder nearer the time that once again says I should present in London but ignore it. During a trial I took part in at UCLH in 2015, they booked me in for two scans in two different buildings at overlapping times and both being nuclear scans they should not have been on the same day anyway. Excellent clinical staff and treatment but poor admin. So I much prefer using my local GP surgery for routine PSA tests.

Edited by member 24 Nov 2019 at 04:25  | Reason: Not specified

thanks for the reply but you are lucky , for me the Hospital administers the first 28 days of Hormone therapy only , they then hand the care back to Primary care which is my GP and that is for all tests , PSA Levels, 3 monthly Hormone treatment, heart function test for Q interval and there`s more  at my GP there is no Auto renewal of any treatments mentioned above and including  the B12 injection , I have to prompt or ask for each one  when it is due.

This is the Hospital passing the costs back on to my GP as the hormone treatment drug Decapeptyl is very expensive , i did ask for the Hospital to do these things but a secretary i spoke to said No , but that has given me an idea , i will go over her head straight to the top, i`am a member of another help group and a guy there has done this many times , so i will try it  , they are going to have to do some thing as i`am suffering from a lot of the side effects mentioned on the medication leaflet .

Edited by member 24 Nov 2019 at 20:28  | Reason: more information