B12 Injections

ajbell766

My better half has B12 injections every 3 months which is free of charge. These take place at the doctor's surgery.
Due to the current situation these have been stopped until further notice. She has been told she will have to take tablets for the next six months.
However, this means paying approx. £54 over this period.
Though she has been made redundant in January and has been told she is not eligible to claim Universal Credit or other this means she will not get free prescriptions.
Can this be right that you have to pay the prescription fees when you didn't pay for the injections for no fault of her own! It's obviously not the fault of the surgeries either but it's a cost that she did not have to pay before.
Has this happened to anyone else?

Spoonie_Turtle

She could see if she can get any help through the Low Income Scheme https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-low-income-scheme
It's based on household income and outgoings so there's no set threshold; she'd just have to apply and see what happens.

KxMx

Ask if they will prescribe more than one month at a time. That will mean fewer prescription charges.
I take those tablets, I get 100 a time and take 2 daily. 

elsien

If she can't get UC because of your income and or savings, she's unlikely to qualify on low income grounds. 
Can she see if a prepayment certificate is any cheaper? Or if the tablets are cheaper over the counter?  

Mojisola

ajbell766 said:

My better half has B12 injections every 3 months which is free of charge. These take place at the doctor's surgery.
Due to the current situation these have been stopped until further notice. She has been told she will have to take tablets for the next six months.

If she has PA, will the tablets be of any use?

https://pernicious-anaemia-society.org/articles/b12-injections-stopped-in-parts-of-uk-due-to-covid-19-virus/

QuackQuackOops

ajbell766 said:

My better half has B12 injections every 3 months which is free of charge. These take place at the doctor's surgery.
Due to the current situation these have been stopped until further notice. She has been told she will have to take tablets for the next six months.
However, this means paying approx. £54 over this period.
Though she has been made redundant in January and has been told she is not eligible to claim Universal Credit or other this means she will not get free prescriptions.
Can this be right that you have to pay the prescription fees when you didn't pay for the injections for no fault of her own! It's obviously not the fault of the surgeries either but it's a cost that she did not have to pay before.
Has this happened to anyone else?

My Mum has hers every 4 weeks.
Just today, they said....no, you have to go to 12 weekly due to Coronavirus.

We phoned up and demanded her injections as normal....and a nurse came this afternoon to do it.

Dont accept no for an answer and tablets are not the same.

KxMx

Tablets aren't the same but may still work. 

As Mojisola said in PA they won't be much use. 

For someone one like me they are more than fine. My problem seems to be poor ability to absorb rather than lack thereof (In the context of undiagnosed illness with bowel problems).

So a constant oral supply daily keeps me topped up nicely, confirmed with bloods. I've had two supervised attempts at stopping, both failed. Reducing the dose to one daily saw my levels stay normal but fall. Then stopping saw me become deficient again. 

My GP put me straight onto tablets and never mentioned injections.

MumToOne

I’d ask the surgery to reconsider, if I was you. I’m still having my B12 injections.