Official MoneySavingExpert.com Prescriptions Discussion Thread

sheenaf

Don't know if this is in Scotland only. If you do not normally pay for prescriptions, eg. child, pregnant, over 60 - you can register with a pharmacy for Free Minor Ailments Medication. The forms are available in pharmacies and health centres. There is a long list of qualifying ailments - and medications - headaches, sprains, hayfever, skin conditions, etc. and you can get pain killers, antihistamines, lotions, eye drops, etc. You get the cheaper generic ones.

This service saves Doctors and patients time. The pharmacist advises and checks what other medication you are taking. I got antihistamines free and have collected calpol and calomine free for my Grandson when he had chicken pox. Not a lot of people seem to know about this. I saw the scheme advertised at the surgery and had to ask at the Chemist.

mickscript

My Surgery has just issued a document entitled....
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL PATIENTS
28 day prescribing……"Will it cost patients more"?
It states… "The vast majority of patients collecting repeat prescriptions do not pay prescription charges or do hold prepayment certificates so will not pay more". OK.... so what about the rest of us? I would suggest that paying patients with long term stable conditions could now end up paying two to three times more in prescription charges. Tell your doctors they are not following the NPC guidelines. If they won’t listen tell your MPs to look at the NPC Connect, issue 55, page 3. and get them involved.

Doc_N

mickscript wrote: »

My Surgery has just issued a document entitled....
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL PATIENTS
28 day prescribing……"Will it cost patients more"?
It states… "The vast majority of patients collecting repeat prescriptions do not pay prescription charges or do hold prepayment certificates so will not pay more". OK.... so what about the rest of us? I would suggest that paying patients with long term stable conditions could now end up paying two to three times more in prescription charges. Tell your doctors they are not following the NPC guidelines. If they won’t listen tell your MPs to look at the NPC Connect, issue 55, page 3. and get them involved.

Don't most surgeries already limit prescriptions to a 28 day supply?

mickscript

Yes they do. And that is precisely the problem, they have introduced a blanket prescribing policy of 28 days. Patients who pay for their prescription used to get 3 months supply and they now mostly get 28 days. That means that they have to pay 3 times the money for the same amount of drug. If the Government had tripled the prescription charges the Country would be in uproar yet that is what this policy means to paying patients who have long term stable conditions.

Doc_N

mickscript wrote: »

Yes they do. And that is precisely the problem, they have introduced a blanket prescribing policy of 28 days. Patients who pay for their prescription used to get 3 months supply and they now mostly get 28 days. That means that they have to pay 3 times the money for the same amount of drug. If the Government had tripled the prescription charges the Country would be in uproar yet that is what this policy means to paying patients who have long term stable conditions.

Round here it's been a max 28 day supply for many years - as long as I can remember in fact. And I think that's been standard across most of the UK. You must have been very lucky to be able to get a three month supply for the price of one prescription!

I don't see this as tripling the cost in your area, I'm afraid - just bringing it into line with what the rest of us have been paying for years. It looks as if there's now a policy to make 28 day prescribing more or less compulsory (to avoid waste, they say), and it does seem fairer that everybody will be paying the same.

A prepayment certificate will save money for 14 or more prescriptions in a year, of course.

mickscript

By Nov 2008 almost 60% of GP practices had still not introduced this policy maybe you are very young or I must have been lucky as with most of the UK. As you appear to be a doctor you would struggle to take a balanced view and probably jump to the PCT tune. Perhaps you are able to give me evidence that shows 28-day prescribing has been in force for as long as you say and also statistics to show it actually saves waste.
Have you actually read the NPC guidelines? At this moment in time do you realise that some people are actually struggling to keep a roof over their heads and to find any extra money? Do you not realise that patients who pay for their medication do not waste it? As to your suggestion about the rest of us, does it seem fair that Wales pays nothing, Scotland pays £4 per script and Northern Ireland pays £3 per script and we pay £ 7.20. The prepayment certificate costs £38 in Scotland, £25 in Northern Ireland and £104.00 over here.
Yes I am sure we will all be happy paying the same.

Plastictools

Looks like another spineless and overpaid NHS doctor wanting to toe the line to me......I've lived in a few Health Authority areas and until a few months ago always had several months of a regular medication prescribed. If I tell the doctor I will be out of the country when next prescription is due (often true), I will be given two months supply, but the general rule, despite my stable medical condition reviewed every six months, I only get 28 days supply. Doctors are so out of touch with the finances of the real world that they have no respect for patients who actually pay for prescriptions, seems to me they just like being paid lots of extra admin fees for following this pointless 28 day GUIDELINE.

Doc_N

mickscript wrote: »

By Nov 2008 almost 60% of GP practices had still not introduced this policy maybe you are very young or I must have been lucky as with most of the UK. As you appear to be a doctor you would struggle to take a balanced view and probably jump to the PCT tune. Perhaps you are able to give me evidence that shows 28-day prescribing has been in force for as long as you say and also statistics to show it actually saves waste.
Have you actually read the NPC guidelines? At this moment in time do you realise that some people are actually struggling to keep a roof over their heads and to find any extra money? Do you not realise that patients who pay for their medication do not waste it? As to your suggestion about the rest of us, does it seem fair that Wales pays nothing, Scotland pays £4 per script and Northern Ireland pays £3 per script and we pay £ 7.20. The prepayment certificate costs £38 in Scotland, £25 in Northern Ireland and £104.00 over here.
Yes I am sure we will all be happy paying the same.

Plastictools wrote: »

Looks like another spineless and overpaid NHS doctor wanting to toe the line to me......I've lived in a few Health Authority areas and until a few months ago always had several months of a regular medication prescribed. If I tell the doctor I will be out of the country when next prescription is due (often true), I will be given two months supply, but the general rule, despite my stable medical condition reviewed every six months, I only get 28 days supply. Doctors are so out of touch with the finances of the real world that they have no respect for patients who actually pay for prescriptions, seems to me they just like being paid lots of extra admin fees for following this pointless 28 day GUIDELINE.

I see you've both only just joined MSE, and you've made 4 posts between you, all here. Are you perhaps related?

I can see why you're unhappy, and you're absolutely right that there's no consistency across England, Wales and Scotland. But isn't it fairer that all English patients are dealt with in the same way, rather than some having to pay for a prescription every 28 days, and others every 84 days? Ideally, all prescriptions would be free, as they were when the NHS was set up in 1948, but unfortunately that happy situation only lasted 4 years.

As things stand now, most people get 28 days at a time. Some (like you) have been lucky enough to get more than that, but is it right that you should get, say, 84 days, whilst most others are getting 28 days for the same payment?

In England the charge for a single prescription item is £7.20, a 3-month Prescription Prepayment Certificate will cost you £28.25 and a 12-month PPC £104.00. You can also pay for a 12 month PPC by Direct Debit and spread the yearly cost over 10 monthly instalments. It isn't ideal, I agree, but £104 is the maximum anybody needs to pay for as many prescriptions in a year as they need. Anyone over 60 pays nothing, and there are exemptions for certain conditions and low income families. As I say, it's not ideal, but in the current financial climate it's unlikely to get any better. Nothing's for free, because everybody else has to pay for it out of their taxes.

mickscript

I was unaware that I was restricted in the number of post I could make. You should be aware other people have opinions.
Do you not think it arrogant to believe there is no'one out there that at least partly agrees with me.
To answer your second question no I am not as far as I am aware related to anyone else using this forum. I am simply a patient who feels aggrieved.
On the other hand you are obviously no layman. Perhaps you are using this forum to make political points on behalf of the PCTs.
I do not agree we are all being dealt with in the same way. You have confirmed my suspicions that like most of the doctors I have discussed this with you are avoiing the main questions and replying with political statements.
I asked had you read the NPC guidelines on prescribing. I think like most doctors apparently not! We are clearly not all been dealt with in the same way. It is not a case of bringing us in to line with the rest of the country. It is about the PCTs sneaking up prescription charges by the back door in some parts of the country and by allegedly using bullying tactics on our GPs. The PCTs (and ofcourse you) are then telling the rest of us we are out of step and should fall in line. Are you of the belief that your patients are stupid? Can I refer you back to my first post,
If some patients were not entitled to receive longer prescriptions for stable long-term condition WHY did they in the first place, and WHY does it say in the NPC guidelines that this should still be a consideration when doctors prescribe? If you wish to continue appearing to be an independent voice you are standing too far into the camp of the PCTs, and it is becoming a little too obvious. If you are not willing to answer all my questions in a straightforward way then may I suggest you stick to medicine and leave your friends at the PCT to do the politics.

savetilibleed

Doc_N wrote: »

As things stand now, most people get 28 days at a time. Some (like you) have been lucky enough to get more than that, but is it right that you should get, say, 84 days, whilst most others are getting 28 days for the same payment?

I started getting repeat prescriptions in 56 day cycles a couple years ago. Don't know why, I didn't ask or anything. Didn't even know it was possible. Makes it more convenient in some ways, but on the other hand I have 4 regular items (one of those are issued as an 84 day pack) plus a couple of irregular items, so I find I go to gets 'scrips much more often than 2 months as the others have got out of phase with dose changes etc. When it was 28 days + the 84 day item I could get a whole month supply and it wouldn't be a great stack of them even if I didn't need some items for 2-3 weeks.

Still I'm just glad I don't have to pay.