Medicines have ALWAYS been subject to strict rules when sent through the mails from country to country; I can personally vouch for this from my experience over the last 50 years. After Brexit, such packages from the UK are no longer “internal” shipments but “international” ones, subject to a wide variety of restrictions and documentations, and not just excise and customs. In regards to this, the problem seems to have been with the British Post Office for not warning the sender that these regulations exist as outlined in every nation’s postal guide.

Second, when such a package does arrive in Portugal, it joins the mountain of parcels sent from all the other countries of the world – China, Japan, the United States, Brazil, etc. – and is processed in turn. Just because it was posted from the United Kingdom does not mean that it gets special treatment or that it goes to the head of the queue, especially if the required documentation for medicines is missing.

All prescription drugs are available in pharmacies in Portugal, and the Borrills need only go to one to obtain their supply. If they need another prescription, they can get that from any medical doctor or clinic in their area. It appears they are residents and so can obtain a SNS user number which gives them the same free (or minimal cost) access to health care as they had in the UK.

Ron B. Thomson,
Lagoa, By email.