Cheapest Prescriptions and Medications Discussion

Savvy_Sue

I'm in the same position as BB, likely to need a fair few scripts in the next few months but not quite sure! Anyway, unfortunately I was feeling too ill to tell DH to get the receipt for the last two he picked up for me, and one of them was for only FOUR tablets! Ho hum.

Still, it's balanced out by the quantities of drugs I was discharged from hospital with. If you get sent to the hospital Pharmacy yourself, you have to pay, but if they are ordered from and delivered to the Ward, no questions seem to be asked ... and they were absolutely on the ball with the receipt form thingy!

Bossyboots

Savvy_Sue wrote:

I'm in the same position as BB, likely to need a fair few scripts in the next few months but not quite sure! Anyway, unfortunately I was feeling too ill to tell DH to get the receipt for the last two he picked up for me, and one of them was for only FOUR tablets! Ho hum.

Still, it's balanced out by the quantities of drugs I was discharged from hospital with. If you get sent to the hospital Pharmacy yourself, you have to pay, but if they are ordered from and delivered to the Ward, no questions seem to be asked ... and they were absolutely on the ball with the receipt form thingy!

You can write in to

Independent Review Section
Patient Services
Sandyford House
Archbold Tce
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE2 1DB

to see if they will refund you the ones you did not get a receipt for. As long as you have a pharmacy receipt and have purchased the PPC then you ask them to review your reasons for not getting the proper paperwork.

Savvy_Sue

Bossyboots wrote:

You can write in to

Independent Review Section
Patient Services
Sandyford House
Archbold Tce
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE2 1DB

to see if they will refund you the ones you did not get a receipt for. As long as you have a pharmacy receipt and have purchased the PPC then you ask them to review your reasons for not getting the proper paperwork.

That's useful. I will ask my DH if he kept the receipt ... I suspect he may only have the Visa chit!

loobyloo1980

Having being stung by the tax credit system since hubby got slight wage increase we no longer get free prescriptions. I applied for a HC1 certificate to get free prescriptions that way based on low income, but they have assessed us as being too high for free prescriptions. Instead, they have sent us a HC3 which gives limited help.

I don't understand it!!!!

I have never had a HC3 before, and have no idea of the actual costs of dental treatment, sight tests, glasses etc as we have always got it free on low income. I need to work out what I need to set aside in our budget for health & prescription costs.

We both have asthma and need inhalers so think we will be better off on a pre-payment scheme for that. I wear glasses & contacts, but hubby doesn't. We both obviously go to dentist every 6 months, but I have never needed treatment (touch wood). Have no idea what a check up costs.

Would be grateful if someone could help me out with costs as I really need to add this new outgoing into our already tight budget.

Thanks

max2002ad

I work for Lloyds Pharmacy so i will be able to help you with the prescription side of things.

First i need to know how many prescriptions do you get each month and how many inhalers does your doctor prescribe?
The second thing is do either of you recieve anything else on prescription?

Knowing this information i can tell you what the cheapest course of action is and how much to budget for.

loobyloo1980

max2002ad wrote:

I work for Lloyds Pharmacy so i will be able to help you with the prescription side of things.

First i need to know how many prescriptions do you get each month and how many inhalers does your doctor prescribe?
The second thing is do either of you recieve anything else on prescription?

Knowing this information i can tell you what the cheapest course of action is and how much to budget for.

Thanks, we are both on beclamethasone (brown) and salbutamol (blue) inhalers. Hubby gets through 1 brown every 2 months and a blue every month. I get through a brown every other month and a blue every 2 months. We have nothing else on repeat prescription so only other prescriptions we would need would be anything that cropped up incidentally through illness. An unknown quantity really. We have exactly the same prescription medication for asthma, so can use each others medication if one of us runs out before new prescription is ready. The worrying thing is that there is no way we can afford to buy a pre-payment certificate up front at the moment. We are over stretched at the best of times, but I am equally worried about having to pay over the odds for the medication that is so vital for us both. I wonder why government don't exempt asthmatics from charges on medical grounds like diabetics, as we need our medication just as much.

max2002ad

Thanks for the info.
The best solution for you is to not bother with a Pre payment certificate as it wouldn't pay for you in this situation.
For a Pre Payment certificate you need to have had more than five items in four months or more than 14 items in 12 months to make it pay. Currently you have only two items each every two months.
Unfortunately the medical exemption catergories haven't been looked at for so long that there are many areas where it is failing. Unfortunately i really can't see them changing it due to the fact that the cost implications will be great. However in a couple of years time they may change things.
The main area's of cutting your costs are in the number of inhalers you recieve on prescription.
When you next ask for a repeat prescription write a note to your doctor asking if it would be possible to double the number of inhalers you are prescribed. Tell him/her that you are on a low income and find it differcult to pay the nhs charges. If you are honest with him/her then he/she is more likely to do that for you.
This one action will save you £26 every four months or up to £78 every year.

This is at least a start for you and will make things that little bit easier.

loobyloo1980

Can I just ask you, how will changing the number of inhalers cut the cost??? Do you mean we will then be better off on an expemption certificate??? Thanks for all your helpful input.

max2002ad

Sorry about the confusion.
By increasing the number of inhalers on a prescription the less number of prescriptions you will need over the year.
For example if you have a prescription with just one inhaler and get that increased to two then you are doubling the amount of time before you will need to order another prescription. This would save you £6.50.
Unfortunately there is no medical exemption available for asthma at this time.
What i was saying was that it is an old system that would cost too much to change at present. However there are discussions under way to change it, but that is a few years off.

Hope this helps

angelatgraceland

I pay about £7 for a dental checkup and had a standard amalgum filling on a back tooth last month for just over £12. Get your eye test free at D&A. Search this site for cheap contact lenses. Ask for your prescription from D&A then buy your glasses/contact lenses elsewhere-search this site well.