Here in Britain our NHS is overloaded. My wife has sight in one eye and Glaucoma in the other. Recently she had a consultation and had her drops upgraded as the pressure had risen. The initial prescription from the hospital was used and we are fighting to have them added to her regular list. Because the letter from the consultant has not arrived at her doctors nobody can prescribe, even the hospital emergency department and we cannot buy them, so we go into the New Year fighting an overloaded system, It's nobodies fault. Has anybody experienced this?
Our system is different than the UK, but certainly no less frustrating. I miss the days when you just went to your family doctor, who knew you, and he prescribed what you needed right then. When my husband was ill, if his medications were changed, he would ask the doctor for a sample to hold him over till insurance kicked in. I'm not sure if the physicians there give samples quite liberally, but most doctors here will give them out.
Here in the U.S. there are some who advocate for nationalized health care, but sadly your situation throws doubt on the efficacy of such a system. Perhaps the Christmas and New Year's holidays have slowed your health system down since many take time off to celebrate, and things will speed up when everyone is back at work. I have glaucoma in one eye and latanoprost keeps it under control.