Help! Do We Have To Pay For Our Travel Vaccinations?

PHILP_2

Four of us are travelling in about 4 weeks to South Africa and I've only just now contacted my GP surgery to arrange for vaccinations. GP surgery says they can't do it as they don't have a "travel clinic" between now and then. They referred me to a local private clinic and the total cost of all the recommended vaccinations through them is £300. Naturally we're desperate to avoid this sudden unexpected expense. I see that NHS Direct simply say go to your GP surgery. Is there any other way of avoiding this cost? Perhaps we can go somewhere else in NHS? If there's no other option to save money here should we consider getting them cheaper when we arrive in SA?
Cheers

sturll

PHILP wrote: »

Four of us are travelling in about 4 weeks to South Africa and I've only just now contacted my GP surgery to arrange for vaccinations. GP surgery says they can't do it as they don't have a "travel clinic" between now and then. They referred me to a local private clinic and the total cost of all the recommended vaccinations through them is £300. Naturally we're desperate to avoid this sudden unexpected expense. I see that NHS Direct simply say go to your GP surgery. Is there any other way of avoiding this cost? Perhaps we can go somewhere else in NHS? If there's no other option to save money here should we consider getting them cheaper when we arrive in SA?
Cheers

My GP does it for free. However, since you're having problems with yours have you tried your local walk in centre?

Also, out of curiosity where are you heading to?

Tojo_Ralph

....
First off, why can your Doctor not arrange prescriptions and your practice Nurse not give you the jabs?

Secondly, what were the recommended vaccines? (£75 a skull private sounds like the basics)

The reason I ask what vaccinations they recommend is that not all vaccines are available FREE (or for the cost of a prescription) from the NHS, only the basic ones are free with many of the more exotic ones such as Yellow Fever, Meningitus ACWY, Hep B, etc, usually having to be paid for, and they don't come for the price of a prescription!

I had a quick search to try and get some facts and the best I could find was the below.

http://cks.library.nhs.uk/information_for_patients/common_health_questions/question/which_travel_vaccinations_are_free#
.....

PHILP_2

sturll wrote: »

My GP does it for free. However, since you're having problems with yours have you tried your local walk in centre?

Also, out of curiosity where are you heading to?

Thanks Strurll.
I dont think WICs do travel vaccinations but worth phoning round all of them we can get to.
We're going to Cape Town but hope to make it to Kruger National Park before going home in new year.

PHILP_2

Tojo_Ralph wrote: »

....
First off, why can your Doctor not arrange prescriptions and your practice Nurse not give you the jabs?

Secondly, what were the recommended vaccines?

The reason I ask what vaccinations they recommend is that not all vaccines are available FREE (or for the cost of a prescription) from the NHS, only the basic ones with many of the more exotic ones usually having to be paid for, and they don't come for the price of a prescription!

I had a quick search to try and get some hard facts for you, and the best I could find was the below.

http://cks.library.nhs.uk/information_for_patients/common_health_questions/question/which_travel_vaccinations_are_free#

Thanks - sounds like I need to go straight to the GP instead of relying on the practice staff. The vaccinations needed are listed on the linked page - Hep A and the tet/dip/polio combination, so they are available on NHS.

dzug1

PHILP wrote: »

Thanks - sounds like I need to go straight to the GP instead of relying on the practice staff. The vaccinations needed are listed on the linked page - Hep A and the tet/dip/polio combination, so they are available on NHS.

Yes - but I thought for the Kruger you also needed malaria tablets which are not free. Some sorts you need to take for a while beforehand so check on this before deciding to get them there

http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/destinations/southafrica.htm

You do appear to be clear of the yellow fever zone which would be another payable one.

Voyager2002

I suspect that 'travel clinic' is when they look up the vaccinations and other health precautions that you will need. A link to this information has been posted by #3 and #6, but don't rely on this. Print out the relevant pages and take them to your pharmacist, unless you can get a slot with your doctor or practice nurse.

The injections you need can be administered by the practice nurse, and generally it is easy and quick to get a nurse appointment. However, you may need prescriptions for some of the vaccines, so allow for this.

Incidentally, when I set off for six months back-packing across Africa, the vaccine against Hep A was not available. I did not suffer, but took care about hygiene when eating and drinking (as you should in any case). I regard this vaccination as desirable rather than essential.

PHILP_2

dzug1 wrote: »

Yes - but I thought for the Kruger you also needed malaria tablets which are not free. Some sorts you need to take for a while beforehand so check on this before deciding to get them there

http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/destinations/southafrica.htm

You do appear to be clear of the yellow fever zone which would be another payable one.

Useful - sounds like we should get them there as cheaper provided we dont need to take them early?

PHILP_2

Voyager2002 wrote: »

I suspect that 'travel clinic' is when they look up the vaccinations and other health precautions that you will need. A link to this information has been posted by #3 and #6, but don't rely on this. Print out the relevant pages and take them to your pharmacist, unless you can get a slot with your doctor or practice nurse.

The injections you need can be administered by the practice nurse, and generally it is easy and quick to get a nurse appointment. However, you may need prescriptions for some of the vaccines, so allow for this.

Incidentally, when I set off for six months back-packing across Africa, the vaccine against Hep A was not available. I did not suffer, but took care about hygiene when eating and drinking (as you should in any case). I regard this vaccination as desirable rather than essential.

This is sounding very promising - how does the pharmacist help?