Extortionate price for travel vaccinations!

OMR

We have a link with a charity in Uganda & various members of our family have to'd & fro'd there for a few years, so we are familiar with what vaccinations are required. This year, a new member is going & we are horrified to see the rise in prices of vaccinations from last year! Our local surgery will do some as part of the service they provide (though there is still a fee) & the rest have to be gotten via private prescription. This is what we have been quoted:
BATCH A
Hep B (3 injections) £110, Meningitis ACWY £30, Rabies (3 injections) £105. Total £245.
BATCH B
£10 for a private prescription for Malaria tabs (Our cheapest supplier isn't Tesco, it's a small independent chemist @ about £1.30 for each tab. Have to start them before we leave, so can't procure them locally in Uganda.) £55 for the Yellow Fever jab & certificate.
Ouch in every sense of the word! Last year, the total cost for Batch A was about £130. I have a couple of questions;
1) Anyone know why Batch A has gone up so extortionately in 12 months? &
2) Does anyone know any way to do this more cheaply? Is it possible to get all of Batch A on a private script, purchase it somewhere else & have the surgery administer it? (Or even my friend, who's a nurse!)
Am I totally off-beam here, or is it only possible to do this in the manner our local surgery dictate? I'm actually feeling really ripped off. Is there a cheaper way? Or if I keep on, will we have the NHS police on our doorstep? Oops!
Thanks everyone.

WolfSong2000

may be worth asking why the price has shot up?! I must admit I'm surprised myself, but I'd say you can't risk *not* getting any of those jabs.

The only thing I can see that you may be able to cut down on is the anti-malarial...going by the price you quoted, I'm guessing you're taking Malarone? It's the best one to take, but it is expensive...you could speak to your GP about taking doxycycline instead? Stay the heck away from Larium at all costs...doxycycline *may* work, depends on the area...Uganda as far as I'm aware has some particularly virulent strains of malaria, so Malarone may be your best bet after all!

OMR

Thanks WolfSong2000. :wave:
Yes, it's Malarone. A friend used Doxy quite succesfully, but for us the issue is the length of time you have to keep taking it after you get back - another month! So for the young people who go, we'd rather use the treatment that they are the most likely to complete. Larium is an absolute no-no, I agree. My sanity is fragile enough as it is!
As regards the jabs, no, I wouldn't risk 'not' getting them. Although the rabies one is kind of optional as long as you don't stroke the monkeys! But I was more asking if anyone knew any way around having to get these from our GP at these ridiculous prices. I might ask why they have gone up the next time I go, although I suspect the big guns of Practice Management are in motion & that I will be told take it or leave it.
I'm just hoping that there isn't a monopoly for GP's. Does anyone know?
Thanks

moneysaving_pharmacist

Price list from a pharmacy in London that runs travel clinics:
http://www.greenlightpharmacy.com/travel-medicine-vaccinations.php

littlestar1981

I'm starting to think they can charge what they like. I asked for Hep B and was told is was free as it was for travel, the nurse ordered it, the head GP questioned it and when she said I was going abroad to volunteer suddenly it was £50. That was only 6 months ago and I still wonder really why the difference (especially when the link above says it's meant to be the opposite way round AND half the price)

My meningitis was £20-£30, and the Yellow Fever was £35, in line with above posts.

Try travel clinics? The only thing I can think of is that they are using different brands, but I haven't a rational clue.