OTC medicines and new prescription rules

uknick

For example, my partner has a chronic dry eye problem, Meibomian gland dysfunction. She's had it for over 10 years and it's not going to go away. She found out last week all her eye drops and other products required to treat the condition have been removed from her repeat prescription list under the new rules for OTC medicines.

She estimates this will cost her at least £400 per year. She has to use two types of eye drops each day, each at a cost of about £12 per pack for a month's supply, amounting to about £300 per year. Without the drops she'll eventually lose her sight due to excessively dry corneas eroding away and causing ulcers. On top of this there are various cleaning solutions she has to use to try to keep the glands clear.

In the past they could all be bought on prescription using a prescription card. She's questioned this with her GP and they have told her, that's the way it is now. Her next step is to raise the issue with her local CCG, and all the bureaucracy that entails.

This led me to start thinking how others are dealing with the changes. Dry eyes are a very common problem the older one gets. My mother, in her 90s, has had dry eyes for years and used to get her drops for free on prescription, but no longer. Whilst her costs are not as much as my partner she still has to find extra money each month to buy them from her state pension.

Anybody having problems with the rules changes?

Spoonie_Turtle

She should be able to fight it. The BMA guidance states:

This initiative is for short term minor illnesses only, so long term repeat prescribing is excluded. The guidance also lists a number of general exceptions, where it is recommended that patients should continue to have their treatments prescribed, which are outlined below (full list p12-13):
• Patients prescribed an OTC treatment for a long-term condition • For the treatment of more complex forms of minor illnesses
...
• Patients where the clinician considers that the presenting symptom is due to a condition that would not be considered a minor condition.

GPs must continue to treat patients according to their individual circumstances and needs, and that includes issuing prescriptions where there are reasons why self-care is inappropriate. This guidance does make it clear that such requirements continue to apply in individual situations.

It sounds like your partner has a strong case - it's a long-term condition and can hardly be considered minor as it would cause sight life if left untreated! The expense factors in as well; it's not like telling someone who uses paracetamol or ibuprofen long-term to pick up a few packs for 36p in a supermarket, or telling someone to pick up a tube of hydrocortisone for £2 that will last them a couple of months. In your partner's case, the OTC cost is more than the first of a prescription so from a patients perspective it's madness they'd even stop prescribing it anyway.

I couldn't find the original NHS guidance yet but it's worth trying to find it and going through as your partner can base her case on it. (The BMA weren't happy about it and their guidance I quoted above is a secondary source, not the primary source.)

uknick

Spoonie_Turtle wrote: »

She should be able to fight it. The BMA guidance states:



It sounds like your partner has a strong case - it's a long-term condition and can hardly be considered minor as it would cause sight life if left untreated! The expense factors in as well; it's not like telling someone who uses paracetamol or ibuprofen long-term to pick up a few packs for 36p in a supermarket, or telling someone to pick up a tube of hydrocortisone for £2 that will last them a couple of months. In your partner's case, the OTC cost is more than the first of a prescription so from a patients perspective it's madness they'd even stop prescribing it anyway.

I couldn't find the original NHS guidance yet but it's worth trying to find it and going through as your partner can base her case on it. (The BMA weren't happy about it and their guidance I quoted above is a secondary source, not the primary source.)

Thanks for this. She does have the guidance so was surprised at the GP's response. Hence the next stage to CCG.

From the lack of press coverage on this, apart from a few small articles, I do wonder of it hasn't yet filtered down to many what is happening.

Spoonie_Turtle

uknick wrote: »

Thanks for this. She does have the guidance so was surprised at the GP's response. Hence the next stage to CCG.

From the lack of press coverage on this, apart from a few small articles, I do wonder of it hasn't yet filtered down to many what is happening.

Ah right. I hope they see sense! Please let us know how she gets on.

Tbh I was only vaguely aware of it due to posters in the surgery saying they won't prescribe things like paracetamol or antihistamines for short-term, minor ailments. It didn't really twig that it was a nationwide thing, and on the face of it, it makes a lot of sense ... until you get a situation like your partner's, which is just bizarre that they thought the guidance applied!

kirtondm

It is our CCG offical policy that no 'basic' eye drops will be funded on prescription alongside a whole host of other medication

Eyebag or similar might be better for long term management of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction?

uknick

kirtondm wrote: »

It is our CCG offical policy that no 'basic' eye drops will be funded on prescription alongside a whole host of other medication

Eyebag or similar might be better for long term management of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction?

She already uses one of them along with various other cleaning solutions such as Blephasol. All of which have gone at present.

Erinome

Thanks for the heads-up. Fellow dry eye sufferer here. To be honest I've often wondered why they prescribe medications that can easily be bought OTC, though I'm glad they do (or did!)

VitAPos costs about £5 for a tube that lasts a few months, but the HyloSan eye drops can be pricey, as can the Blephamol.

halogen

What are the new rules for OTC medications. I was told by my GP to get OTC painkillers from the chemist and I was fine with that, but the pharmacist said he could only sell me a weeks worth and i really should have a prescription.

uknick

halogen wrote: »

What are the new rules for OTC medications. I was told by my GP to get OTC painkillers from the chemist and I was fine with that, but the pharmacist said he could only sell me a weeks worth and i really should have a prescription.

Here you go;

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/1a-over-the-counter-leaflet-v1.pdf

You seem to be in a left hand/right hand problem; local GPs not talking to local pharmacists to explain what they're doing with regard to the new rules.

ivyleaf

I now have to buy antispasmodics OTC (to help with pain from diverticular disease) but what does annoy me is that larger generic packs can't be bought OTC, only the smaller branded versions. But you can't have the larger cheaper packs prescribed either! :mad: