MSE News: Cost of NHS prescriptions and dental care to rise next month

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  • Ames
    Ames Posts: 18,459 Forumite
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    Nick_C wrote: »
    The thing that annoys me is when the prescription costs much more than the drug. I use generic betnovate. About 30g a year. If I could buy it OTC it would be about £3.

    Have you asked for a private prescription for it?
    Unless I say otherwise 'you' means the general you not you specifically.
  • teddysmum
    teddysmum Posts: 9,471 Forumite
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    brook2jack wrote: »
    For a couple of years pre 2006 NHS dentists were allowed to charge for failed appointments. Failure rates plummeted. Post 2006 in England and Wales dentists are not allowed to charge for failed appointments and the rates have rocketed. The worst offenders are young men . In some areas 40% of new patient appointments are missed.

    In 2010 the average NHS dentist had almost 1100 missed appointments per year. https://bda.org/dentists/policy-campaigns/research/workforce-finance/gp/failure-to-attend
    When you make your next appointment with my dentist, you are given a slip of paper with date, time and name of dentist, followed by a message saying that you may be charged if you fail to attend.
  • teddysmum
    teddysmum Posts: 9,471 Forumite
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    theoretica wrote: »
    I assume that most places have a proportion of no-shows calculated into the number of appointments they offer already. Just like airlines overbooking.


    When I heard the hospital nurses discussing the no shows, one commented that they should, therefore , finish on time.
  • brook2jack
    brook2jack Posts: 4,563 Forumite
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    teddysmum wrote: »
    When you make your next appointment with my dentist, you are given a slip of paper with date, time and name of dentist, followed by a message saying that you may be charged if you fail to attend.


    Unfortunately you cannot be charged for missing NHS dental appointments in England and Wales.

    Many dentists invest heavily in text reminders , which in a NHS context are very,very expensive as the software licences alone are hundreds of pounds a month. However that makes some difference but not a huge amount. To quote from the research link I posted earlier

    “Majority of patients missing appointments are amongst new patients and most of them are exempt from payments. Lots of these patients do express that, as they do not have to pay for their appointments due to exemption, it does not matter if they miss appointments.”
  • tensandunits_2
    tensandunits_2 Posts: 919 Forumite
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    brook2jack wrote: »
    “Majority of patients missing appointments are amongst new patients and most of them are exempt from payments. Lots of these patientsdo express that, as they do not have to pay for their appointments due to exemption, it does not matter if they miss appointments.”

    I must confess to being rather irritated by that statement. What do they mean by 'lots of these patients', I wonder. As somebody who is exempt from charges myself I resent the implication that I must therefore have a cavalier attitude to wasting practitioners time.
    Pop_Up_Pirate wrote: »
    I also think they need to introduce charges to see a doctor.

    I too think that would be a good idea, also A&E which I understand often gets clogged up with drunks and time-wasters.
    It is not because things are difficult that we dare not venture
    It is because we dare not venture that they are difficult

    SENECA
  • antrobus
    antrobus Posts: 17,386 Forumite
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    Mishomeister wrote: »
    I believe the charges shouls be the same for every one. I don't see why Welsh and Scottish get it free whilst English have to pay?

    Only about 10% of the English pay prescription charges. There is a long list of exemptions, including 'people over 60'.
    Nick_C wrote: »
    The thing that annoys me is when the prescription costs much more than the drug. I use generic betnovate. About 30g a year. If I could buy it OTC it would be about £3.

    That's perfectly true. My local NHS trust helpfully prints the cost of every drug on the packet on meds supplied on discharge from hospital. None of mine cost anywhere near £8.60. :)

    But then, £104 a year for a season ticket is a much better deal if you are on about ten different meds.
  • brook2jack
    brook2jack Posts: 4,563 Forumite
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    tensandunits wrote: »
    I must confess to being rather irritated by that statement. What do they mean by 'lots of these patients', I wonder. As somebody who is exempt from charges myself I resent the implication that I must therefore have a cavalier attitude to wasting practitioners time.

    This research is showing trends, not commenting on individuals.

    This is a quote from this report https://bda.org/dentists/policy-campaigns/research/workforce-finance/gp/failure-to-attend


    Another quote from the report
    “On audit analysis we find that the vast majority (ie.90% plus) tend to be non-fee paying NHS patients, with a poor attendance record.”

    Unfortunately this bears out other research that non fee paying patients are responsible for the majority of missed appointments.

    General research in missed appointments shows it is 20 to 29 year olds who are most likely to miss appointments , those attending for the first time , non payers and those who have missed appointments before.
  • pmduk
    pmduk Posts: 10,655 Forumite
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    antrobus wrote: »


    That's perfectly true. My local NHS trust helpfully prints the cost of every drug on the packet on meds supplied on discharge from hospital. None of mine cost anywhere near £8.60. :)

    I've long believed every item dispensed on a prescription should be priced this way. Hopefully it may reduce waste.
  • unforeseen
    unforeseen Posts: 7,283 Forumite
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    antrobus wrote: »

    But then, £104 a year for a season ticket is a much better deal if you are on about ten different meds.

    Due to my current prescriptions I use up my prepayment certificate costs in 2 months.

    Next month they even lose that bit of income when I turn 60
  • Ames
    Ames Posts: 18,459 Forumite
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    pmduk wrote: »
    I've long believed every item dispensed on a prescription should be priced this way. Hopefully it may reduce waste.

    And what about people who need more expensive medication but can't afford hundreds or thousands a month for them?
    Unless I say otherwise 'you' means the general you not you specifically.
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