My daughter was referred to the nurse led Isotretinoin clinic at Heathfield Clinic. She was started on treatment last year and had to attend the clinic every 4 weeks in order to continue treatment. Before commencing treatment, we both had to sign an agreement stating she would attend 4 weekly in order to continue treatment.
Isotretinoin is used to treat severe acne and is mainly prescribed for adolescents. The clinic takes place in the afternoon one day each week. At each clinic she has to have blood taken and a pregnancy test carried out before being seen by the nurse practitioner who will then write a prescription.
While the clinic was at Heathfield you then had to take the prescription to Ayr Hospital to have it dispensed. While the treatment has been very successful it has been made very difficult due to the inflexibility of the clinic timings. Most people attending this clinic are in full time education and many are in the process of sitting exams. The clinic hours are during the school day and there is no deviating from these times.
My daughter was sitting a pre lim on her appointment day and I was told that she would have to wait until the next week and break her treatment. The following week she also had an exam and I was informed that I had a signed a form to say she would attend every 4 weeks and I was breaking the agreement. I did indeed sign the form but was unaware of the inflexibility of the system. It is also difficult if parents are working to arrange transport from school to the clinic and back to school during working hours.
Would it not be possible to have the clinic outside of school hours or at least have some appointments available later in the day or early evening? When I suggested this to a member of staff at the clinic, she was very abrupt in her reply and said that this is what happened and we had to accept it or stop treatment.
"Could they not provide more flexible hours for the Isotretinoin Clinic?"
About: NHS Ayrshire & Arran NHS Ayrshire & Arran
Posted by jwhite (as ),
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