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Rank: Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/12/2010
Posts: 7
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Hi all Through this forum and the helpline we have become increasingly aware of the problems that some people were having with their medication deliveries through Healthcare at Home, as well as problems getting through to their advisors. We have been in touch with the company, who are working hard to get this resolved and they have provided us with a statement and further information for anyone still experiencing difficulties.To view this statement, please see the following page of the NRAS website: http://nras.org.uk/news_...ption_january_2014.aspx Kind regards Victoria Senior Information & Support Coordinator
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Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/24/2013 Posts: 703 Location: Hexham
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Thank you for your effort on our behalf Victoria. There's another issue, one that adds insult to injury as it were, in that for many of us, our contact phone number is a premium phone number whereas patients on other medications get a freephone 0800. Members of this forum have therefore paid rates from 7p per min to 16p depending on how they have called, and with wait times of up to an hour have paid £4.20 or more per call, simply to find out where their missing delivery is. This is inequitable. Why should patients be discriminated against based on the drug they have been prescribed? Can you help us right this wrong please? Paul Barrett
Hexham - Northumberland - Loads of spectacular walks - all I need now are the joints to go with them! :)
Enthesitis (2012)
Ulcerative Colitis (1990)
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Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 8/25/2010 Posts: 1,289 Location: Buckinghamshire
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thank you very much Vicky,
as you will see from the Healthcare thread i started my delivery and phone call this morning went smoothly after the nightmare i had just before and after New Year.
i spoke to Lorraine at NRAS last week who was brilliant and said a statement would be posted as soon as,
nice to see a person's name and mobile number if we run into trouble again,
voice of the masses works at time's!
Suzanne
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Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/3/2011 Posts: 717 Location: Torbay
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I have been having problems with HAH. The main one is being unable to get through on the phone. I tried 3 times one day and each call lasted 40 minutes before I gave up. On the last one the call went through to answer machine after 40 minutes. Also they haven't been updating the treatment tracker so if you try to find out what time the delivery is due it says there are no deliveries scheduled and yet this isn't the case. Also they used to call me to discuss delivery times and to find out if I needed any sharps bins or other supplies.....now they just leave a message saying when they will come and if I want to change it I can't get through. I need a new sharps bin and it took around eight attempts at phoning them to get through. I'm fed up with HAH. I think the service is really shoddy.....is this what we get when the NHS subcontracts a function.....I'm not impressed.
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Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/10/2010 Posts: 43 Location: Little Dewchurch, Hereford
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It's a real shame people are having such problems - I have been having deliveries from Healthcare at Home ( in Hereford) for quite a few years now & have always found them really helpful & efficient. I get sent an email to ask me to confirm the delivcery date ( & what I need such as any needles or a sharps box) though they often ring as well - if I ask them to email me they have always been quite happy to do this, which means I can have time to check stocks & can get in touch with them at a time that suits me ( for no cost)
Perhaps that might help those having difficulty?
I work part-time, and they deliver to my work address which is also really helpful as the delivery slots are quite vague
Hope all the rest of you can get your deliveries coming as efficiently as mine
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/3/2011 Posts: 717 Location: Torbay
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Maybe the quality of the service differs by area. I'm in Paignton in Devon. My last delivery was supposed to come between 1 and 6 and it was just lucky that I hadn't left for my hospital appointment when it arrived at 10 am! I have written to complain to them and hope they can improve their performance. I had an emergency recently when I accidentally locked my sharps bin. I couldn't get through on the phone so was left with the choice of not injecting or storing my used syringes elsewhere....neither of which is ideal. Let's hope H@H can get their act together. I'm giving them another chance but will be putting in a complaint with my rheumy and asking if I can change suppliers if things don't get better.
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Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 5/2/2012 Posts: 670 Location: where the sun always shines :o
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Well driver was a bit late Thursday 0930-1430 hours arrived as I was setting off on the school run in the afternoon.
Driver moaned to hubby (he answered the door) driver cheesed off at deliveries here there and everywhere.
I have changed my working days at work but not successful in speaking with call centre - will work on both days the delivery comes to the area.
I got an email from hc@h to ask my stock levels before they allow the next delivery to be arranged.
My stock is a full box that they delivered on Thursday!!!!
Getting fed up with the service.
Xxxxx
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Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 8/30/2010 Posts: 507 Location: Gravesend
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Hiya Healthcare at Home were a brilliant service prior to these problems , in my limited experience of 7 months use prior to these issues. Therefore I am willing to give then a chance ... That said...i personally think that the the contract managers of the hospitals /trusts/ former PCT's who make these contracts should have some protocols in place for just such an occurrence as this. A penalty clause is not acceptable . There needs to be something in place that makes sure that essential drugs are supplied to customers of the NHS. And yes that is what we are ...Customers! But customers with no choice of supply ! What needs to happen is that supply contracts have details of how supply and communications issues between patients and H@H ( for example) are resolved , and if not resolved then a protocol invoked to get available supplies to the patient by an alternative means, even if by a secondary supplier. This is both fair and equitable ... when the short and long term health of patients is involved. Nice Idea ..just phoned my Trust .. they said words such as !"set in stone" , "it's a business decision" , and " I will put you through to the department that deals with that" ...brrr brrrr brrr " Comments ? Rich :) "The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."
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Rank: Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/4/2009 Posts: 28
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Hi all,
I phoned HH to arrange a delivery because I was out of Humira and they hadn't called me.
I arranged a delivery for today 8-12.
At 12.20 I phoned them to say the delivery hadn't arrived.
The person I was speaking to agreed I was getting a delivery, but was unable to give me any information whatsoever as to when it would arrive.
Said she would call Logistics and ask them to call me "urgently". Now 1300 and they haven't called.
I work for a Fire Service, and am due in Headquarters at 13.15. Luckily, I don't have a critical meeting this afternoon. If I did, I'd have to choose between postponing the meeting, or not having any Humira to take this Thursday.
I can quite understand that deliveries are sometimes held up. What I can't understand is the inability to provide any information about a rescheduled delivery time. I can't tell anyone at work when I'm likely to be in.
Very unsatisfactory indeed, and would like to know from the NHS what performance monitoring they do on these contracts. Perhaps NRAS could raise this?
Helen
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Rank: Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/4/2009 Posts: 28
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13:50, no delivery and needless to say the promised call from Logistics hasn't materialised so have just called HH again. They still have no idea when the delivery will be made, there is "a massive queue trying to get through to logistics", she will send them another email. Delivery is now two hours past their latest quoted delivery time and no information about when it might turn up. You would think the telephone hadn't been invented. So still unable to tell work when I am coming in. I have two dogs who haven't been out except in the backyard since 8am because I haven't been able to leave the house. I'd normally take them out at lunchtime before going to work. Really, really fed up.
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Rank: Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/4/2009 Posts: 28
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14:40 - an extremely truculent person has just arrived, two and a half hours late and said "We're not Healthcare at Home we're Movianto. We don't have a time schedule." I told him I was going to write this down, and he confirmed it again - "We have no scheduled time for this delivery." General attitude, though unsaid, "And frankly we couldn't care less, so drop dead."
So either HH is lying, and does not actually specify delivery times, or this courier is lying.
I intend to find out which, and if HH is not specifying delivery times, I would like to know whether delivery slots form part of its contractual agreement with the NHS, and whether this constitutes non-performance on the contract. Perhaps NRAS can help.
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 8/25/2010 Posts: 1,289 Location: Buckinghamshire
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hi Helen,
i've just gone cold at reading this after the trauma i had just before the New Year,
dreading my next delivery when it come's around!
Suzanne
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Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/3/2009 Posts: 1,689 Location: Durham
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Hi Helen, Clearly things are still not sorted with H@H. I'm like Suzanne - expecting problems with my next delivery. Watch this space!! Kathleen.x
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Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/3/2009 Posts: 838 Location: Nottinghamshire
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I had a delivery yesterday. Had a text a week ago giving me a delivery date. Had one over the weekend confirming delivery day. Went online for delivery slot, it was between 10.58 and 12.58 and I am pleased to say that the drugs arrived on time. So everything was Ok.
However the delivery man told me that there are still problems. Explained that it started end of December when a new logistics company started doing some of the deliveries.
Paula x
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Rank: Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/4/2009 Posts: 28
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Ah - interesting - new logistics company - that might explain a lot.
I have to say, that I had a phone call from HaH next day with a most fulsome apology, and two similar emails. I had copied out my messages here and mailed them to the mailbox NRAs quoted. The person I spoke to was going to forward the whole package up the management chain. She says they do have delivery slots, and appeared genuinely appalled at the attitude of the driver.
I see that HaH are currently advertising about 60 vacancies with Reed, including a Marketing Manager. My feeling is, the company has expanded too fast and its systems haven't kept up.
We shall see what happens with the next delivery!
Helen
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/24/2013 Posts: 703 Location: Hexham
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@Vicky-NRAS Vicky - we are nearly two months on from your original post and the situation doesn't seem to have improved very much. Did H&H give any info on how long the disruption was expected to continue? Paul Barrett
Hexham - Northumberland - Loads of spectacular walks - all I need now are the joints to go with them! :)
Enthesitis (2012)
Ulcerative Colitis (1990)
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 8/25/2010 Posts: 1,289 Location: Buckinghamshire
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also on opening the link i now see there are no mobile numbers that were available?
got a few weeks yet for my delivery, but why should we still be in this position,
fortunately i have the free phone number for Healthcare now that was posted on one of the links,
keep posting everyone on your experiences.
even though it fills me with dread reading them!
Suzanne
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Rank: Administration
Groups: Registered, Administrators
Joined: 3/20/2012
Posts: 87
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Dear all Healthcare at Home have realised the following statement regarding disruption in the supply of the 50mg MyCLIC pre-filled Enbrel pens http://nras.org.uk/news_..._30th_january_2014.aspx
Healthcare at Home are aware that we are continuing to monitor the situation and we will be contacting them once again regards the comments above. However it's very important that you continue to contact H@H with any problems/complaints about the service using the details issued in their original statement here: http://www.nras.org.uk/n...ption_january_2014.aspx Kind regards, Emma
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Rank: Administration
Groups: Registered, Administrators
Joined: 3/20/2012
Posts: 87
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Dear all Further to my earlier post, we have had a response from H@H: They would like to emphasise the importance of using the correct numbers/email if there are questions on the Enbrel 50 MyCLIC Pen issue. The number is 0330 123 0273 or you can email them on enbrel50@hah.co.uk. The 0330 number is a standard charge number. They would also like to pass on that they are in the process of replacing the premium rate phone lines with standard or low-call numbers and will advise of these changes via the Contact Us page of their website www.hah.co.uk shortly. This takes a little while to ensure all numbers are migrated correctly. If we hear anything further we will of course keep you informed. Kind regards Emma
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/3/2011 Posts: 717 Location: Torbay
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I wonder why they had premium rate phone lines in the first place. It makes me feel exploited that I've been charged more than necessary, especially when I can't get through. I'm losing faith in H@H after reading all these comments. Their very name just fills my heart with dread. I do hope things get better. We have enough to contend with being ill without all this added stress. I think everyone should report back to their consultants about the state of this service. The bad thing is the there were similar problems with the last company that used to supply my drugs and that's why we were swapped to H@H in the first place so I'm wondering if there is a wider issue here.
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