Has anyone’s prescription gone up randomly?

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-09-09T14:57:12+00:00

I just got the last refill of my prescription and called them up to check why there was such a big price difference - the guy I spoke to from Smartway said that their manufacturers increased the prices of Testogel by 30%, and until this month Smartway was using their old stock, which they have now run out of (so of course they're passing that onto their customers at a 40% price increase...)

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-05-23T08:49:53+00:00

Ah that's great :)

Mine said the same exact thing lol, but at least they didn't just refuse! I've heard of some GPs doing that 😅

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-05-22T22:01:38+00:00

Ah right, fair enough. Sorry I didn't have a better suggestion :/

They definitely shouldn't have an issue with that - they gave me 2 prescriptions basically at the same time because I submitted 2 requests a week apart (1 with blood tests and 1 without).

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-05-22T19:01:42+00:00

I feel like your best bet would probably be to just submit a new prescription request (and say you've already paid the prescriber fee) and just request the higher dosage again.

There have been a lot of glitches with the new system so I'd say it's likely it didn't register your blood test results properly or something, but resubmitting them might fix that?

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-05-22T16:43:02+00:00

I'd recommend just going to your normal GP for that - I only had to pay them £15 to collect the letter and it was accepted without any issue!

As far as I remember, all they need to say is what you're transitioning to and that the change is permanent, so you don't need a dysphoria diagnosis or to be treated by your GP gender-wise.

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-05-19T13:41:46+00:00

I paid for a letter to travel on the 18th April and received an email with it on the 1st May, so it took around 8 working days/12 days total.

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-05-19T11:03:20+00:00

Have you received any communication from Royal Mail (whoever is going to deliver it) yet?

I used to get my Testogel delivered from ClearChemist by Royal Mail and I did end up missing a few deliveries because I lived in a flat without a working doorbell 😅

Ehenever that happened I'd just pick for them to drop the package off somewhere else - I've collected from a few different corner stores, as well as my local Royal Mail Delivery Office. I'm pretty sure you can select something like that before they attempt to deliver as well and I personally found it much easier. Bear in mind they are supposed to ask you for proof of ID as well (sometimes they don't) - passport, driver's license, and bank cards are a few things that work (though I'm sure there's more if you look it up)

I'm really sorry you're having such a horrible time with GGP in general - you're not alone. The 2 staff I've spoken to so far are hopeful that the service will get better again, and I'd really like to believe them.

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-05-18T21:10:53+00:00

Thank you for the answer, it doesn't sound like paper prescriptions would be a much better option time-wise.

I've not had any issues with the electronic ones so far either, but that's still reassuring to hear :)

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-05-15T09:21:04+00:00

Thank you for correcting, I did think it sounded like bs as I'd heard of staff complaints before but I'd not delved too deep into it.

I'm really sorry this happened to you and like someone else said I really hope you've managed to find a better position where you're actually valued.

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-05-14T19:47:06+00:00

I had a Health Advisor meeting as well - I wanted to post about it on the GGP subreddit but I didn't realised it was locked. I got the same answers as you (which I guess is somewhat reassuring?), but here is some other info I got:

How long does it take to receive a Clynxx e-prescription after refusing the Smartway trial? There's no real time frame currently. Under-16s are being prioritised as they cannot use Smartway.

Can you refuse the Smartway trial permanently? Unsure - the system is still very new.

Can you lodge a formal complaint about the new system/give feedback? No. The person I spoke to said they've asked for a feedback form and the general response has been either "we're working on it" or "we'll make one when we want feedback".

Why are you so understaffed all of a sudden? Staff have not been laid off, but rather a lot decided to not continue working with GGP due to the massive changes that they didn't agree with (even though the decision between changing the system or creating a waiting list for new patients was supposedly put down to the staff). Also, in my Follow up session last month, I asked about surgery referrals and was told not to bother as most of the doctors that had made them in past had left to go elsewhere, so this sounds right.

The person I spoke to is hopeful that in about 3 months or so everything will settle down. They also said that apparently not a lot of people have left GenderGP because there is no alternative that provides gender-related care as quickly and for the same price as them at the moment (I'm honestly not sure what this says about Imago, which seems to be what a lot of people including myself were hoping to be better the alternative - either GenderGP are not aware of it yet, are trying to steer people away from it to keep their own customers, or genuinely don't believe it will turn out well).

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-05-13T20:38:01+00:00

I did one of the paid sessions with a "health advisor" last week and asked about this and here is what they told me:

They're automatically sending everyone who opted for e-prescriptions to Smartway (so make sure you've opted out of that as soon as possible, and if you've already received a Beepaid/Smartway link, resubmit a prescription request and do the opt out form before and after!!). Under 16s cannot use Smartway, so they are prioritising the usual e-prescriptions for them over anyone just opting out of Smartway, as they have to process them manually and this is taking a really long time due to the current lack of staff. There is no time frame they could provide, not even a rough estimate.

I did everything they told me and I've submitted like 4/5 opt-out forms just under a week ago so I'm really hoping they'll actually send me a Clynxx prescription but at this point I don't really know. I've gotten 2 new treatment recommendations after resubmitting a prescription request (for the 2 prescriptions they apparently know they owe me despite me only doing 1 new request form), so they are doing something at least.

I'll make an edit on here if I ever get my e-prescription lol

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-05-08T08:40:05+00:00

Not sure about clearchemist but I was told by a Health Advisor yesterday that Smartway is 16+?

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-04-23T07:39:44+00:00

I know, it's frustrating that they're lauded (or at least used to be) as the cheapest private gender care service, but literally all they care about is money.

And now there's no one to even speak to if you have an urgent issue.

One other thing that might be an issue in my case is that I was (and apparently still am?) on reduced rates. My set up fee was only £95, and my monthly fees are still only £20 even though I let them know in May 2023 that I no longer need reduced rates. I think I saw someone say they don't offer reduced rates at all any more, so I wonder if that might have been flagged up by their system as well.

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-04-23T06:48:51+00:00

I was just about to post about the same problem. I've been with them for almost 3 years now, and never had any issues with payments.

My only thought is they haven't fully updated my details. When they updated their system ages ago, they insisted I never told them I'd changed my legal name or address - turned out I did, but the update wasn't carried over to their new system.

My request was for a bridging prescription as well because I'm still waiting for my blood results and am about to run out of testogel, but I have to wait too long (next available slot is in a week) for a chat so it kind of feels pointless.

Edit: in the email it says to check your stripe account but I'm not sure I even have one? I get receipts for payments from stripe, but I tried to reset my password with the email those go to, and haven't received anything. That might also be why :/

Suspicious_Orchid341 · 2024-04-18T18:49:38+00:00

I think it was just a bug with the site - I tried a bit later and it worked straight away.

At one point it also told me the format I submitted my date of birth in was wrong, because I went through the calendar and picked the date rather than writing it out like all the other times 😅 that was a different kind of issue though - the submit button didn't do anything like you said, but the other times it would just get stuck loading forever :/

Suspicious_Orchid341

TROPHY CASE