MSE News: NHS prescription charges in England to rise

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"The cost of a prescription in England will rise 25p to £7.65 from 1 April, MPs were told today ..."

Read the full story:
NHS prescription charges in England to rise

Middy

Great! I am funding the unemployed, the over 60s and those that live in Wales and Scotland.

The local chemist I go to if the prescription is available OTC at the same dosage and size for less money, will offer me that instead. Once I had a mosquito bite that turned septic and made my arm swell up. Was prescribed some cream. The chemist said there was the same tube but for £4.65. I took up his offer and saved about £2.20!

atarisrocks

i dont mind paying for my medicines as i maybe get prescriptions every 2-3 years so it a lot cheaper than having to pay for health insurance or the full price of the medicine which can be £100s

Crabman

Why do those of us who pay our taxes (in England) have to subsidise the prescriptions of those in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland?

Can you imagine the fuss Mr Salmond would make if the situation was reversed?

JimmyTheWig

Crabman wrote: »

Why do those of us who pay our taxes (in England) have to subsidise the prescriptions of those in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland?

The article actually claims that free prescriptions actually saves the NHS in Wales money.

molerat

And why do those of us who pay our taxes (in Scotland) have to subsidise the dental charges of those in England ?

Free prescriptions (and free parking) comes from the Scottish NHS budget which would be the same whether these were charged for or not. Our dental charges are higher than those in England as we are still on the old pay per item system (except that 6 monthly check ups are free).

Crabman

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

The article actually claims that free prescriptions actually saves the NHS in Wales money.

That's a theory put forward by a Welsh Government spokesman, not a fact based on evidence. Going by that comment, there is no reason to believe free prescriptions in England wouldn't similarly save money for NHS Trusts in England.

I didn't know dental check-ups were free in Scotland

P.S: MSE Guy - the link in the first post is broken and goes to a 404 error page

benham3160

Middy wrote: »

The local chemist I go to if the prescription is available OTC at the same dosage and size for less money, will offer me that instead. Once I had a mosquito bite that turned septic and made my arm swell up. Was prescribed some cream. The chemist said there was the same tube but for £4.65. I took up his offer and saved about £2.20!

That's because there is an incentive here for the chemist too, they make only make 20p on the prescription charge for a trivial item (remember this goes to the central government) whereas if they OTC you the cream, they probably made £2.50 on that sale.

What does need looking in to urgently is the whole system of pharmacies collecting money from prescription charges..... It's very easy for pharmacies to erm... "massage" the amount of money they get paid, and we're not talking small amounts here.....

Yogibear

Crabman wrote: »

Why do those of us who pay our taxes (in England) have to subsidise the prescriptions of those in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland?

Can you imagine the fuss Mr Salmond would make if the situation was reversed?

utter bollox we pay the same taxes as the rest of the uk,I think Salmond is as popular in Scotland as is Cameron the snp got in up here because of apathy from the Labour voters,if you want to query abuse of tax payers money look at what is known as NI the population say a million and a half ,MLAs,MPs they dont pay Council Tax still having the Rates giving them Billions so that the peace can be maintained

Jennifer_Jane

Middy wrote: »

Great! I am funding the unemployed, the over 60s and those that live in Wales and Scotland.
QUOTE]

In view of this posting, I sincerely hope that you don't become unemployed; that your body does not age or that you need medication after 60, and, of course, that you never live in Wales or Scotland.

Good luck in the future, Middy. I hope you remember your post and it's lack of generosity and grace, in the future.

You are not the only one who pays tax. I do, and very many other people do too. Life is not all about you, Middy.

I'm 65 and a taxpayer, most pensioners are taxpayers, you are not the only taxpayer in the Country, Middy. Nevertheless, thank you for paying for my prescriptions.

harrys_nan

Middy wrote: »

Great! I am funding the unemployed, the over 60s and those that live in Wales and Scotland.

The local chemist I go to if the prescription is available OTC at the same dosage and size for less money, will offer me that instead. Once I had a mosquito bite that turned septic and made my arm swell up. Was prescribed some cream. The chemist said there was the same tube but for £4.65. I took up his offer and saved about £2.20!

I'm a bit fed up with comments like that re OAP's.
I worked from the age 15 to 62 (and then only stopped work due to being made redundant) I have NEVER claimed benefits except family allowance, when my children were growing up I either worked 2 jobs or took all the overtime I could get, my income now is under £8000 per year so I think over my working life I have more than paid my share of taxes etc. I still dont get any benefits so think I am lucky to get my free prescriptions, if your lucky you will get them as well one day.