Prescriptions

I didn't even know people had to pay for prescription drugs until I was no longer a "16, 17 or 18 year old in full time education".
Since then, the sort of shit I've had to pay over £7 a time for has had me seething.
Is it right that people should have to cough up £7.65 for something as crap as a small box of tablets, with which there is no guarantee of success and no refund should they not be a success? Are people being failed by the national health because they're avoiding medication they genuinely need but can't afford?

Oh - and when you're a bit skint do you ever just take your chances and tick a random box?

Good topic. The only thing that irks me about prescription costs is that they are free in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but the majority of people in England still have to pay for them. I'd love to hear any politician's justification for that.

Paying for a prescription is a bit like going into the Post Office and buying a first or second class stamp. Some times your prescription will cost less than 7.65 to manufacture and dispense, sometimes it will cost a lot more, but you pay a flat fee. In the same way, you can send someone a letter in the Hebrides, it costs Royal Mail 12 quid to deliver it, but you get the service for 65p. It's a contribution.

If you have multiple items on your prescription you still pay the same 7.65.

I must admit to having ticked a random box before...Not sure how they validate this, but it is a crime.

I used to work at the prescription pricing authority, and basically all we did was receive all the presciptions from the chemist, we would enter the drug details and quantities - The chemist would then be paid for these and the prescriptions would be burnt..

So how they log this I dont know - maybe they don't...

largehat wrote:If you have multiple items on your prescription you still pay the same 7.65.

Really?

BoltonTillIDie wrote:I must admit to having ticked a random box before.

OK, I do it all the time.

BoltonTillIDie wrote:

largehat wrote:If you have multiple items on your prescription you still pay the same 7.65.

Really?

Yes. And if they don't fit on one sheet, they can be printed on a second sheet by your GP. It's meant to be a contribution rather than a charge for the medicine.

So if your GP printed them on 2 seperate prescriptions, could you ask them to reprint it on one?

BoltonTillIDie wrote:So if your GP printed them on 2 seperate prescriptions, could you ask them to reprint it on one?

I suppose so. I've regularly had prescriptions in the past that run into 5 items, and only 4 fit on one page, so I regularly had 2 sheets, 1 with 4 items and 1 with a single item on it.

For example, my GP prescriped me 150mg per day of a particular drug. The drug comes in 100mg and 50mg form. So that's 2 items. A patient shouldn't have to pay for two prescriptions because his GP has prescribed a dosage which the drug manufacturers don't do in one single tablet.

If you have a good relationship with your GP and you pay for your prescriptions, they will often prescribe you 3 months worth if it's an ongoing thing, rather than just 1, to save you money.

I've been exempt from paying for prescriptions on medical grounds for about 6 months now, I have an exemption certificate valid for 5 years, but all the examples I've given you were correct when I did pay.

I'll remember that...Cheers

BoltonTillIDie wrote:

largehat wrote:If you have multiple items on your prescription you still pay the same 7.65.

Really?

Dont think so.

Angry Dad wrote:

BoltonTillIDie wrote:

largehat wrote:If you have multiple items on your prescription you still pay the same 7.65.

Really?

Dont think so.

I can only speak from personal experience. I'm due to collect a prescription later this month, I'll let you know how it is worded on the sheet, perhaps that makes a difference. I've taken those prescriptions to three or four different chemists (Asda, Boots, Newport St Pharmacy in Bolton and one attached to my local health centre) and none of them ever asked me for more than 7.65.

largehat wrote:

Angry Dad wrote:

BoltonTillIDie wrote:

largehat wrote:If you have multiple items on your prescription you still pay the same 7.65.

Really?

Dont think so.

I can only speak from personal experience. I'm due to collect a prescription later this month, I'll let you know how it is worded on the sheet, perhaps that makes a difference. I've taken those prescriptions to three or four different chemists (Asda, Boots, Newport St Pharmacy in Bolton and one attached to my local health centre) and none of them ever asked me for more than 7.65.

I allway's get charged per item even if they are on 1 scrip.

I dunno AD, maybe it is the wording, that's all I can think of. If you get them regularly, perhaps mention this conversation and ask the GP if you should be being charged for each item too.

My GP is someone I would almost class as a personal friend. We spend about 10 minutes talking about BWFC each time I visit. He has done a lot for me over the years (stuff I wouldn't want to go into). Maybe he is wording my prescriptions in a special way - I am due to see him in about three weeks, I will ask him about this.

[quote="largehat"]I dunno AD, maybe it is the wording, that's all I can think of. If you get them regularly, perhaps mention this conversation and ask the GP if you should be being charged for each item too.

My GP is someone I would almost class as a personal friend. We spend about 10 minutes talking about BWFC each time I visit. He has done a lot for me over the years (stuff I wouldn't want to go into). Maybe he is wording my prescriptions in a special way - I am due to see him in about three weeks, I will ask him about this.[/quote]yeah i got a good one too, been to his house for drinks his wife is one horny bitch and he fancies my wife like mad and can he drink. I must ask about the script thing. He,s a joker my wife went about a rash on her neck when she used a different face cream and he asked her if i'd been choking her in a sex game, allway's knows who does the best price on viagra too , for recreational purposes of course.

Fuck knows what i did wrong with that post.

Angry Dad wrote:He,s a joker my wife went about a rash on her neck when she used a different face cream and he asked her if i'd been choking her in a sex game, allway's knows who does the best price on viagra too , for recreational purposes of course.

Sound like he's taking the piss out of you with the prescription thing, maybe he doesn't like the way you look at his wife AD.

doffcocker wrote:I didn't even know people had to pay for prescription drugs until I was no longer a "16, 17 or 18 year old in full time education".
Since then, the sort of shit I've had to pay over £7 a time for has had me seething.
Is it right that people should have to cough up £7.65 for something as crap as a small box of tablets, with which there is no guarantee of success and no refund should they not be a success? Are people being failed by the national health because they're avoiding medication they genuinely need but can't afford?

Oh - and when you're a bit skint do you ever just take your chances and tick a random box?

You should always ask your chemist if the item on your prescription is available over the counter or if there is a similar item that doesn't need a doctors prescription.

For two years I paid for my incontinence pills at the prescription price, only to one day find out they were actually available over the counter for £2.75 at every chemist in the country. I nearly wet myself.

largehat wrote:

If you have multiple items on your prescription you still pay the same 7.65.

Are you sure about that?

Mainly because a few years ago I was on a course of 2 lots of tablets for a 3 month period but I had to pay double (and this was at teh major chemist in Little Lever). And that is not uncommon as I know a lot of people who pay double or more due to the number of prescriptive medicines on a prescription, and these people use various chemists around Bolton.



I have even been told by the doctor, when I first questioned this, is that its the price per prescriptive medicine on the prescription. Saying that I was 25 when I first needed a prescription, after childhood, and the law may have changed but I cannot remember seeing anything about it.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

You should always ask your chemist if the item on your prescription is available over the counter or if there is a similar item that doesn't need a doctors prescription.

This is very true. You can get some items over the counter which are cheaper than the cost of the prescription.

Here in Germany I pay close to 400 Euros per month for my Krankenkasse which is the same as the bit of National Insurance that pays the NHS in the UK. My company pay pretty much the same for me aswell. In Germany every Krankenkasse takes exactly the same percentage of your basic wage so you can't get it cheaper unless you opt out and go private. You have to earn more than 50 grand a year to be allowed to do that. Once you have opted out there is no going back so even if you lose your job you will have to keep paying for the private scheme. I was going to opt out until it was pointed out I would also then have to pay for private for my wife aswell if she ever quit her job. All of a sudden it didn't appear such good value !

On top of that, you pay 10 Euros when you visit the Doctor. That payment is valid for three months, so if you go back within three months you don't pay again, but if you are a real sicknote you could be forking out 40 Euros a year for the privilege of seeing your own Doctor. My wife had to go into hospital after she was bitten by a field mouse (honestly). She was in for five days with the blood poisoning. I had to pay 10 Euros per day whilst she was in hospital to pay for her meals. It isn't much, but I don't think you pay for that in the UK.

Then, you pay for the medicine you need. One of my mechanics had a heart attack a few years ago. He is now on a combination of drugs that cost over 600 Euros per month. The Krankenkasse pays about 500 of that but he has to pay the rest just for the privilege of staying alive. I guess the UK system isn't so bad afterall.