Free NHS prescriptions
 

... for some.

Now - what will they say a "long-term condition" is?

I have sinus problems and take a spray everyday - been on it for about 19 years - is that long term enough to qualify?

Would save me ~£75 a year.


Link

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

My mother has a thyroid problem and has had free prescriptions because of this for years

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

Bet her condition is included in the list for this "new" scheme ;)

NuLabour: Where cynicism and realism collide.

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

Yeah, The thing here is not that NHS prescription are free as a lot are already free for people with long-term conditions. It's about the more expensive drugs for cancer and for other drugs like those that can save people's eyesight and so forth, I would imagine this is gonna be expensive so I doubt they going to extend it to other conditions which are not already covered.

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Quick question for anyone who's suffered or knows someone who's suffered from cancer.
What charges are there?
I can't imagine chemotherapy has prescription charges.
Is it pain killing medication?

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From that article it will be all the cancer drugs first, then others to follow. I really hope they will include the ones for degenerative conditions, and eyesight saving drugs, because those conditions have always struck me as especially awful.

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Thing is Damien, he didn't say all cancer treatment drugs will be available.
All he said was that charges would be scrapped for cancer patients.
Would mean if you had cancer and caught tonsilitus, you'd get free antibiotics.
Wouldn't mean you'd get that really expensive and slightly better performing drug that just might save your life though.

And I've answered my previous question.

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

Oh, I not sure what it means then...The cancer charity quoted were pleased so I guess there are some things cancer patients have to pay for..

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You've been tripped up by the spin.

It's only prescription charges affected, not cancer drugs that aren't currently provided.

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What on earth do cancer patients pay for then...Must be pain killing drugs..

Shame it's not the better drugs but I guess it makes sense, I wasn't sure how they would suddenly be able to afford them..

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

I'd imagine, it's any other medication that you'd normally pay for, like antibiotics for an infection.
Of course it's great that they won't have to pay, but I can imagine most doctors giving free antibiotics (either GP or hospital) anyway as someone on chemo is going to have a weakened immune system anyway (my understanding of it).
So while making it official is good, the actual impact/difference is probably going to be negligable.
Now something like allowing patients to recieve NHS treatment while also taking medication sourced privately would be more effective. The current system is illogical.

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

That would be logical; I thought that they could do both. Ideally, it would be good to at least try and make those expensive drugs cheaper for those who desire them. Maybe they could do deals with the pharmaceuticals companies to provide them at a bulk rate to the NHS, maybe make them knock a bit off additionally so it doesn’t look like they are unfairly profiting from cancer suffers (while acknowledging that monetary incentive is the only way innovation can continue, these companies need a reason, and money, to do their research)

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We have the crazy situation that if you buy your own medication then the NHS won't provide for you.
Terry Pratchett is campainging against it I believe, as he's had to buy his medication becuase the NHS won't provide it during the early stages of his illness, so by the time he does degenerate enough to qualify for it, he won't get it on the NHS.

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

I have been a cancer patient since last year.

I have never paid for ANY drugs or treatment of any kind.
I have received chemotherapy, steroids, anti sickness drugs, blood, platelets, food via IV and free transport to and from my hospital.

I have heard of cases where patients have been charged outside of the hospital though. I guess that is what he is aiming at??

Also..... when do I stop being a cancer patient??

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My late wife had a condition called "non hodgkins lymphoma" which is basically cancer of the lymph system which stops working against antibodies and allows the body to "destroy" itself.
She did die, but there was no question, that she recieved the best care and no drugs were withheld to try every combination which might put it into regression.

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Well that is utter madness and makes no logical sense, I understand why the NHS may not want to pay part of someones cost to go private but I don't see why they would withhold treatment for someone who also chose to go elsewhere :confused:

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Which was why there was a massive piece in The Times today about it being about to change for some things.

I think the free prescriptions announced today a good policy.

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Exactly, if you've paid your NI contributions then you should be entiled just like anyone else.
If I buy Anadin for my flu rather than the prescribed paracetamol, should I no longer receive NHS treatment if my flu turns into pneumonia?
Sorting that out, to me, is more important than not charging people who already aren't charged for medication.
Course it would cost more, and the reality behind this idea is that it's just to try and win votes, not actually help people.

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It's one of those *new* labour things.. If you're an ordinary bloke and you go a bit 'private' then they despise you as having elitist ideas and they hang you out to die..

However, if you're rich enough to bung a couple of million into the party bank acounts then you can do no wrong. Rip off the pension funds of millions of working people and you'll still remain untouched..

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:tu:

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle4812952.ece
This is not the actual article I had read, it went into more depth..

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All in yesterday's Times.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle4806144.ece

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle4806143.ece

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle4806119.ece

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

I don't know why people use GPs anymore. You can Google your condition and gain accurate, in-depth information - more than anything your GP can provide. If you want to see a doctor, there are walk-in centres where you can be seen far quicker (20 minutes versus up to two weeks) than visiting your GP. It's not like the family doctor exists anymore - just a different locum from one week to the next. Casualty is there for acute problems and injuries. Shut the GP surgeries. Build more walk-in centres. The odd poly-clinic so that some secondary and specialist care can be provided more readily. Put the saved cash into providing better NHS services, including free prescriptions for all.

Just a thought :shrug:

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I reckon it's all spin... Brown loves to announce "new" money that has been around for years, and this time he is trying it on again. Most chronic illnesses including diabetes allow for free meds and equipment already... let's hope this extends to asthma, COPD, etc.

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A very poignant post.
A Beloved sisiter, Mother and ex-boyfriend all had one thing to say about thier treatment......... 'the staff were wonderful'.

It's going to be an exraordinary doctor/consultant that eventually concedes that the 'condition' is most likely to be 'terminal' in the early stages when everyone around the person is busy considering what can and should be done for them.

Back to the OP - it's a start? The 'free' NHS isn't quite so free because of funding and keeping up with research and red tape IMHO.

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Not all apparently, charity groups have been going on about these "12%" who for one reason or another are not covered. The Times had a mention that just over 50% of people with cancer at ages 18 to 35 have to pay some sort of fee.

The other thing, which was not mentioned in his speech, is allowing people to buy the expensive, newer, drugs.

---------- Post added at 13:51 ---------- Previous post was at 13:45 ----------

People are not experts in self-diagnoses, it's a very bad idea. A lot of these sites are actually poor and they don't come with the required information to judge if something is a condition or just has similar symptoms, it would led to a nation of hypochondriacs who are convinced they have a serious illness.

For example MS is a disease which encompasses a wide range of symptoms which most of the time are simply normal, and only rarely are indications of something more serious. Having 1000's of people lining up to take tests for it would increase pressure on the NHS.

The internet is a poor substitute for a medically trained professional. A lot of people make this mistake of presuming they know better than the experts hence all the health advice in the Daily Mail and others.

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I think greencreeper is pretty much spot on, with regret I say as I think the GP service was better in the past but unfortunately it's now very outdated and poor value for money for the general population. It pretty much seems to cater for small children or elderly and even then they often don't get the support they need.

Your joke about thousands of people having tests I don't find particularly amusing as I believe that a lack of diagnosis processes is one of the fundamental problems.

The idea that we'd end up with millions of hypochondriacs is a ridiculous one too. Plenty of people don't like visiting the GPs, you have a quota system where you have to redial for half an hour and are informed by a sometimes snooty and rude receptionist to try again tomorrow. If you're lucky enough to get an appointment the doctor will tell you that it is unlikely you have condition x, you're fine go away unless it gets worse and subsequent times repeated message. I'm rarely ill, I don't bother medics for ordinary things such as sore throats that I used to get quite often (others get colds or bugs often). When something is seriously wrong I have reasonable grounds to go and seek an opinion I think. I think millions of people are the same and it is not much to ask.

To those who think I'm paranoid there's an ever growing list of friends and relatives that have gone to GPs after suffering symptoms for a while with a theory about what they have to ask for an opinion and the GP has told them to hop it. These are diabetes (x2), kidney stones (x2), reflux, fits, angina, stroke (x2). In each case after even more serious symptoms appear (too late in some cases) it was later agreed grudgingly that the patients weren't delusional.

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It's not a joke, it's a genuine concern and a concern which would be fuelled by if there are a lack of diagnosis processes. My point is that people should not take to diagnosing their own conditions as opposed to a professional doctor. Those years at medical school are not replaced by google, there is both a lack of quality content on the Internet and an lack of medical training in the oridinary people to understand the information and use it to form a diagnosis.

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I think the idea of walking into a doctor's surgery and telling the doctor your own diagnoses is a mistake...telling the doctor your symptoms and allowing them to do their job is a better and more respectful way to get the treatment you deserve.

Re: Free NHS prescriptions
 

I didn't quite say that. But how it works in practice is somewhere inbetween the extremes that people have posted - the doctor always being right and the patient knowing nothing and the patient somehow knowing everything and doctors being useless. The patient is after all the one familiar with their body and what is and isn't normal (to an extent). Depends what you mean by diagnosis really. It relates to one of the points greencreeper made about locums is an important point in this respect. For example one of the cases of kidney stones was being treated for something else but x-rays and other tests picked up evidence of kidney stones but as it was a different department and seen as less urgent the info was sent off to the GPs for referral. Patient went to see GP three times where they said they were sure it wasn't a problem. Had overnight attack, went into A&E, x-rays and other tests carried out immediately, whisked off to the ward, operated on in days, hospital medics wondering later WTF had gone on as they thought the stuff in the GP notes warranted investigation. It wasn't really a case of that person turning up at the surgery and unreasonably saying to the doctor I have this, this and this, it was supported by evidence and symptoms.

What is a GPs job? That's pretty much what people are talking about here.

---------- Post added at 16:17 ---------- Previous post was at 16:04 ----------

The problem is that although they have years of medical training they don't have any meaningful amount of time to make a diagnosis. Yes, they have years and years of experience enough to have hunches and instincts about what someone has but it's applied too hastily and any kind of further investigation is often baulked at. We simply don't have enough capacity in diagnostics in this country and so these restrictions are introduced. The doctor may be right on a number of occasions but the system relies on where it does go wrong that it being sorted out by someone else. Sure there are some people that go to the GPs too often, but there are also a large number that are deterred from doing so when they perhaps should.

The other thing you and maggie seem to be assuming is taking the google thing too literally. Many people get some of their info from other means such as Pharmacists or from what doctors have said to them in the past, perhaps a reoccuring condition. Having doctors and the system act like the 1950s where we're all supposed to take off our cap to them and have them tell us we're all morons is not really the way to run a service.

P.S. I agree about the free prescription, still thinks it's a good policy.

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".
---
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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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