Home Delivery of Anti TNF Treatment

lindalegs

Is anyone else on this treatment having problems with their home delivery service?

I was supposed to have a full delivery last Wednesday but Healthcare at Home phoned and cancelled it saying they had stock problems.

I had no injections for Monday 3rd (today) so they agreed to send me one pen of Enbrel on Friday. It didn't arrive!

After many phone calls in my 'nice' assertive manner they said they would send me full delivery today. It didn't arrive in the time slot!!!

After more phone calls one pen arrived an hour ago which I've used.

I phoned again to ask where the rest are and apparently they too will be with me by special courier today. Derrrrrrrrrrrrr. Cost? Two deliveries to the same house on the same day? :roll: :roll: No wonder this medication is so expensive. :!:

Am I the only person experiencing problems? :?:

Luv,

dreamdaisy

No, this topic was the source of a few threads earlier this year. They are in a mess having taken over another home delivery company (and a few extra thousand clients) but didn't appreciate the need to increase their staffing or number of telephone lines. Their failure on this isn't surprising. DD

Pippa

I'm due to start humira in May. Sounds like I've got lots to look forward to. Thanks for the heads up

cherrybim

The problem is with Pfizer, the American manufacturers of Enbrel, not H@H.

My delivery for last week was cancelled and rebooked for this Wednesday.

I'll wait with bated breath :roll:

Cherry

mig

I have humira delivered and so far have had no problems but I know others have. Mig

Starburst

Is it Enbrel? I believe it is a problem outside of HAH's hands. I have been lucky with them, very few problems. That said, getting in contact with them via phone is a real test of my patience!

mike26

hi lindaloverlylegs
not had this experiance yet,but also due a delivery tomorow
hope all goes to plan :? hope you get yours soon.
mike26 :roll:

lindalegs

Hi everyone, thanks for the replies. As I've been absent from the forum I hadn't seen the earlier thread ....sorry :oops:

Just as an update. My full delivery arrived by special courier at 9:15 p.m. last night. The box containing my 8 injections was as big as a small refrigerator which was too big and bulky for me to carry so Mr Legs had to help. Inside were slabs of polystyrene and FIVE white plastic ice chillers the size of a hard backed book!! See below. (8 injections on top left of the box, 3 of the chillers at the front on the floor!)



I am very grateful they came and extremely relieved but such waste, what a shame when this medication is so expensive to start with.
(Special wave to Mike for calling my Legs lovely! )

Love to all,

mike26

hi Lindalovelylegs
Well the day has come it looks like im gonna be cured, is it good by arther
and hello john travolta :P :? :?
after reading the leaflet that came with 2 months supply im
shaking in me boots, the part that reads(common in 1 to 10)
gulp gulp
think id better make me will out :P
anyway ill give it me best shot, everything crossed.
and good luck to all others starting humira
mike26 :?

barbara12

Hello Linda sorry I have only just seen this..Im so glad you got the meds how awful that they make you wait for them..something so important..its crackers..then you receive all the packing ...when will people learn..they keep telling us to reuse carrier bags... :roll:
wishing you well xx

tkachev

Mine arrived in the middle of the night (I think it was 3 a.m.) with a warning phone call to let us know the delivery man was lost. He was only up the road so OH directed him. We also got a great big box packed with all sorts for just 2 boxes of 2 injections.

They sent out letters of apology stating they were having problems but it should now be sorted. My last delivery was okay.


Elizabeth x

lindalegs

Hi Mike, Barbara and Elizabeth.

The box will come in useful I'm sure and possibly the ice chillers but the polystyrene wee-ell not sure what I can do with them as they're not recyclable. I'm just very relieved to have them and also that they came before the small hours of the morning like yours Elizabeth.

Mike, or should I say John Travolta ...if you get on as well with Humira as I have with Enbrel (Etanercept) you'll not look back. Enbrel has changed my life for the better and I take no other medication for my RA so I don't worry about side effects that I might get. I've been injecting with Enbrel since November 2012 and (touch wood) have had no ill effects from it. I really do wish you well Good luck.

Love,

toady

Was just thinking no I've never had a problem so (of course) I have now, my Ebrel was delayed by hah not getting my prescription through for last week but I was told it was coming through & booked in for tomorrow - a day after my usual day but could be worse I thought - checked the site tonight & nothing booked in for me tomorrow. Should have rung them today & checked. :roll: Will have to ring first thing & chase.. good luck to them if they want to bring them at 3am it will be like waking the dead only less pretty..

Lindalegs glad enbrel is so whizzy for you , how are you not having to take mtx alongside if you don't mind my asking.. keep hoping to get them to cut mine down but they are jibbing..

Best of British to you mike26

lindalegs

toady wrote:

....................Lindalegs glad enbrel is so whizzy for you , how are you not having to take mtx alongside if you don't mind my asking.. keep hoping to get them to cut mine down but they are jibbing.

Hi Toady,

I used to take Mtx but after putting up with headaches and sickness for a long time my Rheumy decided I should try Enbrel instead. I was never offered the two together. Perhaps because I've been a rheumatoid for nearly 28 years my disease isn't raging as some peoples tends to do in the earlier years. I still need something like a Dmard or Anti TNF because without it my joints will become 'not nice' but I just don't need the cocktail of meds like others.

So, in short, it might depend on how long you've had your arthur and how active it is.

Anyway I promise that I shan't come knocking on your door in the early hours as I wouldn't want a scary sight!!! :shock:

Love,

toady

Thanks very much for your reply I've had RA for just over 10 years, under better control now than when it was through the roof (partly through my trying to get away with not taking the mtx & then through it not working whatsoever..) so I'm just not well controlled enough for them to try me reducing mtx I guess. I know in theory the drugs work together but me, I doubt the mtx is doing much of the work. Nice to imagine that maybe mine will burn itself out a bit with time, who knows.. glad your enbrel's doing so well for you.

Hah did turn up trumps today although nothing on the site tracker, I rang & that was (supposedly) because mine 'might' be by courier though it was a standard delivery day so had no reason to expect it would be. And in the event, it was the normal van. Go figure. At least it was around 10am, so I would *almost* have passed for human in a good light. Now got to decide if I keep Thurs as my new enbrel day or what, as I'm a day late.

dreamdaisy

I rang both their numbers yesterday - both were continually engaged. I was invited to employ ring-back: I did and they haven't. I emailed them yesterday too. No response as yet. Twerps. DD

ichabod6

I have been stabbing myself with humira since sometime
in 2009 and have never had any problem with deliveries,
or, indeed, with the stabbings.

lindalegs

toady wrote:

....Now got to decide if I keep Thurs as my new enbrel day or what, as I'm a day late.

Hi Toady,

This was my argument with Healthcare at Home the other day. I didn't want to change my day to Tuesday because I've always injected on a Monday. I feel that if I changed my day the danger lies in that if I was in a rush one week and forgot and injected on a Monday by mistake!!! This is the type of drug you must not overdose on so I stuck to my guns and they got a delivery to me in time for my Monday jab. I also didn't want to go a week without my jab.

To all of those on anti-TNF - a word of advice is that if you have trouble getting your injections and have run out of stock and have rang Healthcare at Home and aren't getting anywhere, ring your Rheumy Nurse at the hospital and they will give you an emergency number to ring.

Love,

toady

I certainly wouldn't want to skip a week - going by the leaflet (as per my other thread) it does seem ok to move two injections nearer each other so I will likely go back to 'normal' next week, but luckily it wouldn't worry me too much to move days apart from remembering. Half my problem today was my fault for getting low but if you have been having actual stock problems (mine being prescription problem) then of course you can run low anyway through no fault of your own.

DD - any joy yet..?

dreamdaisy

Hello Toady, no, nowt as yet. I emailed them again today and, if no response, I will repeat on Saturday, Sunday and early on Monday, in addition to ringing them twice both a.m. and p.m. If I hear nothing then I reckon that is not my problem. DD

dreamdaisy

Still a deafening silence. The phone lines are closed for the week-end so I have sent two more emails. I have two pens left so I'm OK for a month. DD

Starburst

I am furious with HaH at the moment. I phoned them to cancel a delivery because I've had cimzia discontinued. I phoned them back to confirm it. A few days later, I had a call from my local pharmacy saying they delivered 6 injections despite the pharmacy explaining that I cancelled the order. (I get them delivered there because I am out all day and that was the original agreement.) The delivery driver refused and just handed the injections over anyway! I spent 40 mins getting through to HaH who apologised and said they would collect them on Saturday (8 am to 1 pm). I double checked on Friday and they assured me that they would collect the wrongly delivered drugs on Saturday 8th. I got up early and I waited, waited and waited. Tracker online said there was an error and of course, no one answered the phoned.

I'm furious because it is such a waste of NHS money. Once delivered and signed for, these drugs cannot be used for another patient and as we all know, anti TNFs are not cheap!

mike26

Hearing from others on hear regarding HaH they dont seem to
be on the ball do they.

with plenty of time between deliverys you would think it would
be straight forward for them.!
It seems im 12 years younger now ive spoken to HaH :? (not a very good start) although i would like to be a young man again :P
It does make you ask tho if they cant get your age right mabe
you will get wrong meds aswell.
anyway sorry for moan Im hopping me 1st stabbing by a nurse
goes well next week.
at least my meds were correct and delivered on time..
mike26 :roll:

lindalegs

I must say in HaH's defense that they were brilliant and there wasn't a flaw in the system (in my experience) until late last year when we all got letters saying another company would be handling the drugs and HaH were letting their stocks run low. Then they did a u-turn and HaH were continuing after all but this obviously left them with stock issues which they haven't recovered from yet.

That said it doesn't excuse the fact that they're messing you about Starburst and that Mike has lost 10 years of his life somewhere! :shock:

It seems crazy that they are low on stocks and then deliver to someone who has told them she's discontinued taking it!! What a shameful waste! :roll:

Good luck next week Mike.

Love,

Bioluminescence

Healthcare at Home have been okay for me, the main difficulty is on the hospital end in my case. When I was in London I would often have to be the go between hospital and HaH to hurry things up. When I moved to Edinburgh, I was given an urgent referal from the to the rheumy to ensure I had a new perscription but 3 months later and I still had no appointment! The GP tried to perscribe it but they can't do it, I did get to see a registrar at the hospital but my records hadn't been sent so I had to send them myself >.<

Hopefully I'll get a perscription soon, I've used my last one up yesterday and she said it could be a few weeks until I get more . Very frustrating!

lindalegs

I, too, hope you get sorted soon Bioluminesence, all the phone calls and chasing people just to get the treatment is exhausting ......which is the last thing we all need!

Luv,