A recent survey of patients living with stomas in the region has told us a lot about personal experiences of living with a stoma and what could improve those experiences.  One of the areas that patients talked about was prescription ordering for stoma appliances and how that might be better. 

As a result, we are considering making a stoma appliance telephone order service available to all patients in Sheffield needing stoma appliances, open Monday to Friday.  This service would enable the patient or their representative (which could be an appliance contractor or pharmacy) to order their prescription from trained NHS staff who would send the request electronically to the patient’s GP for authorising and then dispense in the normal way.  The service would offer an opportunity for the patient to discuss what they need and to obtain specialist stoma nursing advice and support.

We are considering making this service available to all patients in Sheffield needing stoma appliances and would like to hear people's thoughts on this.