NHS medical exemption card held - claim back possible by nhs?

holidaypain

Hi,

I'm probably sweating the small stuff but wondering if anyone knows about the nhs medical exemption card? I fear I'm in breach of rules.

I've held one for years, never been in trouble before but recently found myself swimming in lower limb wraps, I thought you could only get 2 per every 6 months on prescription. I've got double order somehow by district nurses and then when I attended a clinic to hear if I have got lymphoedema, they then start discussing giving me the rolls royce of leg wraps which are going to be on their way, so I'll have exceeded my quota for sure.

Surely the nhs will come after me about this, especially as the wraps are quite pricey. 

How does it work? Would they accept return if I didn't open say one set?

mebu60

I doubt there's a rigid quota. I think the ideal is two per six months so you can wear one / wash one until they need replacing at the six month mark. But if you've been prescribed different wraps then it's likely to be fine. I wouldn't worry about it at this stage. NHS doesn't usually accept returns. 

maman

Sorry, can't help with the medical exemption but pharmacy won't be able to take them back in my experience. They definitely don't in ours with unopened medication. 

The district nurses might though. Our surgery was very pleased when DH took in some surgical dressings he didn't need. 

Flugelhorn

the issue is more to do with stopping staff prescribing too many, rather than an individual receiving too many - don't worry 

MyRealNameToo

holidaypain said:

Hi,

I'm probably sweating the small stuff but wondering if anyone knows about the nhs medical exemption card? I fear I'm in breach of rules.

I've held one for years, never been in trouble before but recently found myself swimming in lower limb wraps, I thought you could only get 2 per every 6 months on prescription. I've got double order somehow by district nurses and then when I attended a clinic to hear if I have got lymphoedema, they then start discussing giving me the rolls royce of leg wraps which are going to be on their way, so I'll have exceeded my quota for sure.

Surely the nhs will come after me about this, especially as the wraps are quite pricey. 

How does it work? Would they accept return if I didn't open say one set?

Holding a medical exemption certificate (I've had one since turning 18) simply means you dont pay prescription charges. There are no limits, quotas or anything else. It's similarly not limited to just prescriptions in relation to your medical condition but any prescription you may require related or not. 

Those with the authorisation to prescribe have guidelines they should be sticking to but in most cases it's down to the individual prescriber if they stick to the guidelines or feel there is reason for an exemption. Before my main medicine changed from being GP to Hospital prescribed I had to argue with each GP that I needed a specific medication to be prescribed rather than the generic (which the guidelines state they should) because it had to work with my injection pen both in terms of the cartridge fitting and such that 0.4 ML setting on my pen actually dispensed 0.4 ML. 

One particularly obstructive GP kept refusing and it was only when the pharmacist got involved pointing out that he was sat on £20,000 of stock because he'd followed the prescription but I refused to collect because it was incompatible with the pen and as a cold chain item he could only return it the next day and I didnt always make it in the next day to see if it would work or not.

Pharmacies cannot take returns from customers, no comment on you or your intentions but they cannot guarantee you've stored them correctly nor interfered with them. They can potentially return items that that haven't been dispensed to anyone but if it's something common they'll typically just hold it in stock until the next customer. 

A friend's wife had a degenerative condition that made her incontinent, someone messed up somewhere and they ended up with 6 month supply of adult diapers in XXL and XXS, neither of which was any use. Not only could they not return them but they wouldnt even take them back to dispose of the 100+ boxes that they'd delivered. A friend did point out there probably is a market for them on eBay  

maman

That's interesting @MyRealNameToo. I've been having problems with hospital prescribed prescriptions and the GP surgery. I keep having the generic form of eye drops issued rather than the brand prescribed. This is medically fine except that the applicator is useless which results in a lot of waste (too much dispensed when the bottle is full and impossible to get the last drops out) so any saving in issuing the cheaper, generic form is a false economy.

Fortunately, my pharmacy will dispose of unused medications.

MyRealNameToo

maman said:

That's interesting MyRealNameToo. I've been having problems with hospital prescribed prescriptions and the GP surgery. I keep having the generic form of eye drops issued rather than the brand prescribed. This is medically fine except that the applicator is useless which results in a lot of waste (too much dispensed when the bottle is full and impossible to get the last drops out) so any saving in issuing the cheaper, generic form is a false economy.

Fortunately, my pharmacy will dispose of unused medications.

The pharmacy would dispose of unused medication but at the time the monthly bill was about £5k so it was a lot of money going into the bin when I wouldnt collect a prescription that I can do nothing with as its a cartridge to fit into a different brand's pen which I dont have. 

holidaypain

There are no limits, quotas or anything else

I'm sure I keep reading there is only an entitlement to 2 wraps every 6 months under nhs prescription, maybe I'm misconstruing something.  

I have to wear them day and night due to late stage and in trying to keep the flesh eating disease under control and have avoided going through any expense of plastic surgery thinking the wraps take care as well as the look of the battle scar and I just have no assurance the skin won't go necrotic again, so maybe it works out hypothetically or they'll leave me for longer when it comes to the next 6 months. 

Thank you for explaining.

Spoonie_Turtle

holidaypain said:

There are no limits, quotas or anything else

I'm sure I keep reading there is only an entitlement to 2 wraps every 6 months under nhs prescription, maybe I'm misconstruing something.  

I too read that often, for compression socks - it's probably that that's the standard amount prescribed, unless clinical need indicates otherwise.  If you're being prescribed more then you're entitled to more.

Vienss

You don’t need to worry too much — the NHS isn’t likely to penalize you for something that was ordered by nurses or a clinic in good faith. The medical exemption card simply allows free prescriptions for qualifying conditions, not a strict quota system on items. If you’ve received extra wraps, it’s usually logged within your medical records and not treated as misuse. You can mention it at your next appointment so they note it properly. If unopened, you can ask the clinic or pharmacy about returns, but most supplies are just kept for future use.