MSE News: Cost of NHS prescriptions and dental care to rise next month

Legacy_user
Legacy_user Posts: 0 Newbie
in Health & beauty MoneySaving
The charge for an NHS prescription and NHS dental care in England will rise from 1 April, the Government has announced...
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'Cost of NHS prescriptions and dental care to rise next month'
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Comments

  • Kim_13
    Kim_13 Posts: 2,402 Forumite
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    Isn't it about time all parts of the UK got the same treatment when it comes to prescriptions?

    The charge is getting silly considering they try not to give you any more than 14 tablets on one prescription.
  • 50Twuncle
    50Twuncle Posts: 10,763 Forumite
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    Kim_13 wrote: »
    Isn't it about time all parts of the UK got the same treatment when it comes to prescriptions?

    The charge is getting silly considering they try not to give you any more than 14 tablets on one prescription.
    Even more importantly - my GP will only allow a months worth of tablets on a single prescription !
  • Pop_Up_Pirate
    Pop_Up_Pirate Posts: 801 Forumite
    I also think they need to introduce charges to see a doctor.
  • teddysmum
    teddysmum Posts: 9,471 Forumite
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    Pop_Up_Pirate wrote: »
    I also think they need to introduce charges to see a doctor.


    No, as, older people in particular, who don't like to bother the doctor, would be more likely to stay away, with terrible consequences.


    Just charge those who fail to turn up more than once, taking at source from wages/benefits if they refuse to pay.


    Every month our GPs post a notice giving the number of no shows and they go into the hundreds.


    I was in a sub-waiting area at our hospital, this week and while I was in that section (just covering three consultants) there were two no shows, besides at least four who did not respond to a nurse's call in the outer general waiting room.


    The consultant appointments were about half an hour each, so such a lot of time wasted, while others wait for an appointment.
  • Ames
    Ames Posts: 18,459 Forumite
    teddysmum wrote: »
    No, as, older people in particular, who don't like to bother the doctor, would be more likely to stay away, with terrible consequences.


    Just charge those who fail to turn up more than once, taking at source from wages/benefits if they refuse to pay.


    Every month our GPs post a notice giving the number of no shows and they go into the hundreds.


    I was in a sub-waiting area at our hospital, this week and while I was in that section (just covering three consultants) there were two no shows, besides at least four who did not respond to a nurse's call in the outer general waiting room.


    The consultant appointments were about half an hour each, so such a lot of time wasted, while others wait for an appointment.

    I totally agree with charging for missed appointments.

    I wonder though (having read Freakonomics) if charging to see a doctor would increase time wasting? I'm thinking of the nurseries that found fining parents for being late meant that parents were late more, seeing it as an optional extra. Would people end up seeing the doctor more for minor issues that don't warrant it, on the grounds that they're paying for a service so are entitled to use it as much as they want?

    Or you'd probably get people who'd turn up with half a dozen things to talk about, in order to get their money's worth, and the GP would have to either overrun, or ask them to come back another time and potentially miss something.
    Unless I say otherwise 'you' means the general you not you specifically.
  • brook2jack
    brook2jack Posts: 4,563 Forumite
    For a couple of years pre 2006 NHS dentists were allowed to charge for failed appointments. Failure rates plummeted. Post 2006 in England and Wales dentists are not allowed to charge for failed appointments and the rates have rocketed. The worst offenders are young men . In some areas 40% of new patient appointments are missed.

    In 2010 the average NHS dentist had almost 1100 missed appointments per year. https://bda.org/dentists/policy-campaigns/research/workforce-finance/gp/failure-to-attend
  • theoretica
    theoretica Posts: 12,297 Forumite
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    I assume that most places have a proportion of no-shows calculated into the number of appointments they offer already. Just like airlines overbooking.
    But a banker, engaged at enormous expense,
    Had the whole of their cash in his care.
    Lewis Carroll
  • Mishomeister
    Mishomeister Posts: 1,051 Forumite
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    I believe the charges shouls be the same for every one. I don't see why Welsh and Scottish get it free whilst English have to pay?
  • Pop_Up_Pirate
    Pop_Up_Pirate Posts: 801 Forumite
    A small charge, maybe 50p,to see the doctor would not be enough to keep people away, and is just enough to pay for admin costs at surgeries which would help the service as a whole.
  • Nick_C
    Nick_C Posts: 7,455 Forumite
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    The thing that annoys me is when the prescription costs much more than the drug. I use generic betnovate. About 30g a year. If I could buy it OTC it would be about £3.
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