Cheapest Prescriptions and Medications Discussion

heather38

the chemist just claims the money back from the ppa at the end of the month when they submit the scripts.

rjrog77

Sorted now and me £30-odd richer. Cheers!

jenmattsambex

I don't know whether this has been posted before and apologies if it has, however, if you are a sufferer of hayfever (as many of us are!) Lidls are doing hayfever pills containing 10 mg loratadine the same active ingredient that is in clarityn the big difference being, Lidls sell theirs for 89p and clarityn sells for £4.45 bit of a difference! :j :money:

Sam_26

They are exactly the same, but see the hayfever posting on Once Its Gone its gone

Wonderwoman_2

Just a thought - meds that are dispensed are either POMs - Precriptions only Medication, or P - think this stands for pharmacy. The POM's you can only get with a prescription, the other should in theory be available to buy over the counter. A packet of Chlorphenamine 4mg with 28 in the packet costs the pharmacy/dispensary in the region of 46p to buy, Piriton (Chlorphenamine 4mg)bought over the counter costs in the region of £3 - £4.Has anyone asked a pharmacist to sell them a packet of such drugs marked with a P direct. You should in theory be able to buy them at the price it costs the Pharmacist plus his markup - 1/3? Plus I suppose his dipensing fee??? I work in a dispensary and have been unable to get a direct answer from any of the doctors I work for - would be interested if anyone in the retail sector has an answer? Many thanks...

max2002ad

I work as a dispenser for one of the large multiple pharmacys.
It is possible to buy a dispensary pack as long as the packaging says it's a P (Pharmacy only) and not a POM (Prescription only medicine).
It does of course depend on the pharmacist and the person serving you as to their willingness to do so.
For example if someone says they would like a dispensary pack of cetrizine tablets then we usually would sell them a pack.
we have a 50% mark up plus vat so it would cost about £3 for a pack of 30 instead of £6.80 for an over the counter pack.

The main thing i will say is ask you never know !! The above is how members of staff buy their hayfever medication.

Bossyboots

I didn't know whether to put this in here or the Vent Board so if it needs moving I am happy for that to happen.

On the 11th July I was given a prescription by my doctor for some painkillers. She had issued a small amount in case they did not work and I needed to go back for something else. I was aware therefore that over the next few weeks I could be buying a fair few items on prescription. If that was to be the case, I would be better off getting a PPC which I could have backdated to the 11th and send in the receipts for a refund. All I needed to do was to get a particular form from the pharmacist for this.

I asked him for the form. I was using my local pharmacy as I always try to support them. The owner wasn't there and there were three men I haven't seen before running the show although the owner's certificates were on display so I presume he hasn't sold up. Anyway, when I paid I asked for the F5P7 (I think thats right) although I did say the NHS reciept to claim back my costs. He said I'll get that for you. Most places issue these when they actually give you your medicine so that was fine, I had to wait about 10 minutes. He gave me the tablets and I reminded him I wanted an NHS receipt. He printed another till receipt. I told him that was not what I wanted, I needed the form to claim the costs back. He handed me an application for a PPC! I again asked him for the F5P7 and he said they didn't have any as they had not been sent. I told him I could not claim my costs back without it. He said you don't need them anymore as things are different. I told him the application said I did. He then said that was an old application form. Anyway he then says any pharmacy can issue the form. I told that was not true but he said the system had changed. At that point I had no choice but to leave as for all I knew he was right.

I checked on their website and of course, he was wrong. I have contacted the people administering the scheme and they agree he was wrong and gave me bad advice. They have said I can apply for an adjudication to claim the money back if I apply for a PPC and have given me details of how to do that. I can actually claim the money from the driver who hit me so it has become less of an issue now but I am so angry at what I was told.

I am going back there today, when I know they will be busy, to take it up with the owner. They can't issue the certificate now but at least I can make a bit of a fuss and draw other people's attention to it.

Needless to say, I got my two prescriptions last week from Boots and got my F5P7 with no fuss at all.

Bossyboots

Update.

I went back, saw the owner's wife, the man who served me and the dispensing manager as the owner wasn't there. The wife and the member of staff have completely misunderstood the situation and I had to repeat myself over and over again until we got to some common ground. I had taken my e-mail from the PPA with me to show them. Eventually, the dispensing manager said that as they still had the prescription on the premises and it was in this month, she would issue the form today (even though that is against the rules).

What we established in the end, was that the man who served me was talking about reclaiming the costs, not the form to prove I had paid. I have asked them to re-check the rules and train their staff so no-one else has the same problem. It was clear even this morning, that the man who served did not have a clue about the system, neither did the owner's wife. What seemed to stir them into resolving matters, was my producing my form from Boots showing them that they had lost sales last week and telling them it was solely because of their previous error. It would actually have been more convenient for me to go to them last week but they will not get my family's custom anymore.

Jeet_2

I've been using Pre Payment Certificates for the last year or so, as I am on regular meds. I usually buy quarterly certificates and usually phone up on the same day/previous day as I go to the chemist to get my perscription filled to get my PPC renewed. This way you don't need to mess around with refund forms or receipts. If you renew by phone then they will usually tell you the certificate number, although I've not met one pharmcey that asks to see it. You just tick the box.

Another tip ...My repeat perscriptions are only for two months supply at a time, but I get this to last for 6 months supply instead of 4 from my querterly certificate by getting a repeat perscription at the begining, middle and just before the end of a certificate expiry.

Bossyboots

Jeetmistry wrote:

I've been using Pre Payment Certificates for the last year or so, as I am on regular meds. I usually buy quarterly certificates and usually phone up on the same day/previous day as I go to the chemist to get my perscription filled to get my PPC renewed. This way you don't need to mess around with refund forms or receipts. If you renew by phone then they will usually tell you the certificate number, although I've not met one pharmcey that asks to see it. You just tick the box.

Another tip ...My repeat perscriptions are only for two months supply at a time, but I get this to last for 6 months supply instead of 4 from my querterly certificate by getting a repeat perscription at the begining, middle and just before the end of a certificate expiry.

I wasn't sure I was going to need 5 prescriptions in the four months so am hedging my bets at the moment. I have already had three and it looks like I will need another one next week so it will be worth me doing it and getting it back dated. I can then get another script for pain killers just before it runs out to make up the fifth one if necessary but I expect to be having more than that in the time span.