Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

Good policy for who ?

In my area of Wales where prescriptions have been free for a while it has become a big drain on GP surgeries. We now have the situation where (some) people with time on their hands will demand a doctors appointment for any little cold, sniffle or whatever, to gain free medication.

This means that genuinly ill people find it difficult to obtain a doctors appointment. On Monday I went through a farce to obtain an appointment with my doctor, I'm 42 and it was the 4th occasion in my adult life that I needed to visit my GP. I had to be rude to the receptionist and point out that I was not one of their regular customers, and only visited the GP if I had something I was worried about.

My GP was certainly more concerned than the receptionist and was toying with the idea of admitting m to hospital for observation, and as a result I was given 2 follow on appointments this week. The receptionist are trying to fend off as many patients as possible because too many people go to a GP for complaints that are not serious or attend just to get some free medicine that can be obtained over the counter.

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

JFYI, It worked fine and your report was dealt with. All related posts have been removed now. Carry on. :)

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

I think free prescriptions for chronic conditions is a good thing. Does it apply to all prescriptions for such patients or only for medications related to that chronic condition and maybe acute conditions caused by the chronic one? Diabetes patients get free prescriptions at the moment.

Will prepay certificates still be available? That saves me hundreds a year.
Will they adjust the ages for free prescriptions? I am moving into the free bracket soon, what if the age is changed to "retired".
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I pity the poor GP's. Unlike patients or consultants who "specialise" on one condition or set of conditions so can know more about that condition the GP has to know about a whole host of signs and symptoms in multiple patients not all of whom are especially helpful. They have to know about all the possible drug interactions and side effects, eg one of my drugs interacts with grapefruit (juice) so he had to tell me about that. (Mind you I do read the data sheet before taking any drug, so should we all.)

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

I fear that free prescriptions for the over 60s in England will change to the State Pension retirement age.

Labour, in power for the past 26 years in Wales, know that it would be political suicide to stop universal free prescriptions. But I think they realise that their days are numbered after the 20mph debacle and all their other severe failures.

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

At times it's easy to forget that England has to pay for its prescriptions.

Clearly one of the best decisions Welsh Labour ever made :tu:

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

Same for the Scottish SNP government. Making them free was one of the best things they've done.

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

Not everyone ;)

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose on prescription charges. If you know where to look, you can find what it costs the NHS for any prescription drug. A ‘Tesco Value’ antibiotic like amoxicillin costs around a quid for a course. On the other hand, my daughter has medication for eczema which costs £1200 a month!

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

Indeed. Some of the medication i had to take after my transplant costs over £1000 for a bottle of 100 tablets. Yet others I take are £15 for a similar amount. Crazy how some meds cost so much.

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

The prescription charge nominally reflects what the NHS pays to the pharmacist to fulfil an NHS prescription. It isn’t a contribution to the cost of the drug. High street pharmacists are employees or partners in private businesses. Where there are no prescription charges it is because government policy is not to pass that cost onto the patient (pensioners, everyone in Wales and Scotland, those on low incomes, those needing contraceptives). You don’t pay them as a hospital in-patient either, because that would suddenly make some treatment definitely not free at point of use and potentially very expensive for people who don’t otherwise have an exemption.

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

Ok this won't be a solution to everyone, but it saves me money.


If you require two or more prescriptions per month then look at getting a Pre Payment Card (PPC).


It will save you money.

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

Yep, I used Prepay Certificates for a number of years before reaching 60.

Note its based on the number of items you require, not the number of actual prescriptions.

(One prescription can have many items on it).

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

Some meds have strange prices on dosage too. When I was prescribed one drug for a chronic condition, still taking it, the GP asked if I minded taking pills because 2 pills of half dosage was substantially cheaper than 1 of the whole dosage. This worked nicely for me anyway as the dosage was halved after a while.

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

Sorry your correct its two items or more that save you money.