Perscriptions

former_student

I suffer from a skin condition call excema and I rely on creams and moisturisers to control and minimise it. Up until now I have been a student and I have been able to get the medical treatment for free on perscription. However now I have just entered active employment I am paid just under 13k, do I have any grounds to claim free perscriptions anymore. The main reason I ask is because some of the creams I am on are quite expensive.

Morglin

You may not be entitled to free prescriptions on that salary, but there are "season tickets" available:

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23069022/

Lin

momisa

I suffer with excema but find that if I limit my amount of dairy products I don't need the cream. I appreciate that yours may well be worse than mine but changing my diet to mostly vegan has done wonders for my skin. I used to need a prescription every month for the cream but now it takes a year to use up one tube.

Also, ask your doctor if you can double up on creams on one prescription so you'll have more to limit the costs. Definately look into the season tickets too!!

flis21

Well, you should just have to pay the prescription charge (£6.85) for each cream, so even if they are expensive that cost won't be past onto you.

Now, as for free prescriptions, the people who get those are:

NHS PRESCRIPTIONS
You can get free NHS prescriptions if at
the time the prescription is dispensed
you:
• are aged 60 or over
• are under 16
• are aged 16, 17 or 18 in full-time
education
• are pregnant, or have had a baby in
the previous 12 months and have a
valid exemption certificate
• have a listed medical condition and
have a valid exemption certificate
• have a continuing physical disability
which means you cannot go out
without help from another person
and have a valid exemption
certificate
• are an NHS in-patient
• are getting, or your partner gets:
– Income Support
– Income-based Jobseeker’s
Allowance (Incapacity Benefit or
Disability Living Allowance do not
count, as they are not incomerelated)
– Pension Credit Guarantee Credit
• are entitled to, or named on, a valid
NHS tax credit exemption certificate
• are named on a valid HC2 certificate
• are a war pensioner, the prescription
is for your accepted disablement and
you have a valid war pension
exemption certificate.

Supplied free:
• medication administered at a hospital
or an NHS Walk in Centre
• prescribed contraceptives
• medication personally administered
by a GP
• medication supplied at a hospital or
PCT clinic for the treatment of a
sexually transmissible infection (STI).


Assuming none of the above are applicable, you will have to pay for prescriptions, but there are ways to make it cheaper.

How many prescriptions do you have per month? If it is more than one item per month, it is definitely worth getting a prescription pre-payment card.

Here's some info from the website:

From 1 April 2007, the charge for a single prescription item is £6.85, whereas a 4-month PPC will cost you £35.85 and a 12-month PPC £98.70.

Please note, from 1st July 2007:

you may buy a 12-month PPC by lump sum or 10 monthly Direct Debit payments.
a 3-month PPC costing £26.85 will replace the current 4-month PPC.

Web address is here: https://www.ppa.org.uk/ppa/ppc/do/PatientOrderPage#top

If you get one prescription or less per month, can you ask your doctor to increase the quanitity you are prescribed each time? For instance I take a tablet every day, used to be I'd get one prescription per month for 28 tablets. After speaking to my doctor about the fact that I am having some financial difficulties, he agreed to give me 2 months worth of tablets on one prescription, so now only pay £6.85 every 2 months.

Good luck with all this. Also remember if any of the creams are available non-prescription and cheaper that way most pharmacists will advise you of this.

daff_duck

If you live in Wales they would be free. My son has Icthyosis and it was a concern of mine that he would have to pay for his lotions. He has oil to wash in,cream for moisture and special shampoo. He cannot use any ordinary soap stuff.

lebly

You could also ask doctor if any of the specific items are cheaper on private prescriptions as some things are. My doctor has done this for me on a few occasions!

emilyt

flis21 wrote: »

Well, you should just have to pay the prescription charge (£6.85) for each cream, so even if they are expensive that cost won't be past onto you.

Now, as for free prescriptions, the people who get those are:

NHS PRESCRIPTIONS
You can get free NHS prescriptions if at
the time the prescription is dispensed
you:
• are aged 60 or over
• are under 16
• are aged 16, 17 or 18 in full-time
education
• are pregnant, or have had a baby in
the previous 12 months and have a
valid exemption certificate
• have a listed medical condition and
have a valid exemption certificate
• have a continuing physical disability
which means you cannot go out
without help from another person
and have a valid exemption
certificate
• are an NHS in-patient

Thanks for all that info Flis. Just wondered if you knew what was in the list of medical conditions that would entitle you to have an exemption certificate. I have googled but can't find a list.
Thanks in advance
Emily

flis21

I hope this helps (copied from an NHS website):

People with specified medical conditions can get free NHS prescriptions if:

they suffer from any of the medical conditions listed below and
they hold a valid Medical Exemption Certificate
The Authority's Medical Exemption Issue Office is responsible for issuing Medical Exemption Certificates on behalf of the Department of Health for England to patients who suffer from one of the specified medical conditions.

The specified medical conditions are:

*a permanent fistula (for example caecostomy, colostomy, laryngostomy or ileostomy) requiring continuous surgical dressing or requiring an appliance
*forms of hypoadrenalism (for example Addison's disease) for which specific substitution therapy is essential
*diabetes insipidus or other forms of hypopituitarism
*diabetes mellitus except where treatment is by diet alone
*hypoparathyroidism
*myasthenia gravis
*myxoedema
*epilepsy requiring continuous anticonvulsive therapy
*a continuing physical disability which means the person cannot go out without the help of another person. Temporary disabilities do not count even if they last for several months.

LittleVoice

As soon as I was diagnosed with one of the above conditions, my GP completed a form which led to my receiving the exemption certificate. So it would be almost certain that your GP would have advised you if you had been eligible for free prescriptions in this way.

Morglin

No, the OP's condition isn't one that would give a med exemption.

The only way of reducing the cost would be getting a pre-paid season ticket.

Lin