New prescription charges.
 

From April 1st prescription charges are set to rise by 25 pence...taking the cost of every single item on your prescription to £7.10.
Well, that is unless you live in Wales, where the prescription charges are to be abolished....or scotland where the prescription charge currently stands at £5 per item....but even the Scots are to get free prescriptions later on this year.
Are we English folk subsidising the medicines for those in Wales and Scotland...and if so.....are we MUGS??????

And before anyone jumps on my tail.....I do know that those on certain benefits and tax credits will get their medicines for nowt.......but I know there are some who fall just above the levels of earning to get these benefits.....and these are the people that this charge will hit.
Unfair or what?

Re: New prescription charges.
 

It is outrageous that the UK is being divided up like this. The same thing is happening with university education. What will be next?

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I don't know, but it gives you ammunition to throw at door knockers when the prospective parliamentary candidates next surface and canvass for our support.....but hey folks have short memories don't they? They will all stump up and have forgotten by then.

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in the unlikely event,they knock on mine,cashy is an elephant in these matters.:D

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To answer you're question: Yes we are subsidising.

Scotland get more money per head than we do spent on them.

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Thanks for that Cyfr......it was kind of a rhetorical question, because I knew the answer, but just wondered how many other people knew it too.......or perhaps suspected it.

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I think is Scotland and Wales were self funding, then the changes would be up to them. However they are not, and they can quite happily come up with these vote-winning desicions happy in the knowledge thats its us than have to pay for it.

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It really does underline the fact that we are no longer a United Kingdom...we are divided by those who are given resources and those who pay for them.

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No doubt Greg will be dashing to explain to use why we pay and Wales and Scotland don't. From my pont of view I don't pay for prescriptions, but when I did I had a prepaid certificate, but its still wrong wrong wrong, and lets face it its this government that has allowed it to happen, in the name of progress. If Wales and Scotland want to go it allone then let them, but not on the backs of the English

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So England is part of the Divided Kingdom within the United States of Europe. We really are screwed.

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There are parts of Wales where such incentives are needed to encourage immigration :rolleyes:

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I havent had a prescription for anything for over 2 years now, im glad really because that is a lot of money for some tablets, especially if ya have about 4 on ya prescription...that would be about £28!!!
its just bloody ridiculous, especially if you do need them and have to pay for it, because they end up giving ya the cheap brand as well!!!....cheeky baskets!!

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NHS dental charges are also going up at the same time.

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much of the stuff you can only "Get" on prescription here, you can buy over the counter (for peanuts) in farmacies in spain, as we are both in the E.U. its another example of Rip- Off Britain, to go with the welsh n scottish.:rolleyes:

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If you are getting "cheap brands" dispensed then you are going to the wrong pharmacy. The pharmacist should only dispense what is written on the script, ie if your doc has put omeprazole you should get a generic/cheap omeprazole, if your doc has put a branded one ie Losec, you should get Losec. The pharmacist shouldn't be giving cheapr generics as he /she is then defrauding the NHS by claiming for the more expesive ones. Complain to the pharmacy involved and mention it to your GP too.

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Can I take it lindsay that you work in a chemist? What makes me think that is that I'm on omeprazole (which is the generic name, I am prescribed Losec and get it) I get regularly 11 different items per month and usually they match the docs script, occasionally the chemist does send the odd generic replacement, but very rarely

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Yup, Jaysay, I work at Boots, am still learning ( and there is a lot to learn!) but that 's one of the bits I have picked up so far; disreputable pharmacists can and do give out generics and claim for the branded ones, it costs us all more money in the long run. It's a bit like insisting on buying Nurofen when a non branded ibuprofen contains jut the same ingredients for less than half the price.

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How many of us though take notice of what is on the prescription especially if its a one off like antibiotics etc? We just take it to the chemist hand it over and then get the tablets/medicine or whatever it is.

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Not a bad idea to read it before you hand it in though; errors do get made and if it's something you don't take regularly you wouldn't necessarily notice different packaging or names.

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Great news!!(not) i have asthma and have to pay for my inhalers so thats another few quid the greedy government will be having off me and my mother in law is on god knows how many cancer drugs and she has to pay (which is scandalous anyway)so she will be really out of pocket.:mad:GREEDY GREEDY GREEDY

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if u have cancer, dont u get the prescriptions free?


Another thing is that mothers-to-be and for the 1st year of a babys life, the mother gets free prescriptions and dental care, all i got while pregnant was gaviscon and just once, never used the dentist even though they suggest you take advantage of it while u can.I know people who gets medicine for someone in their families while they are on this period of free prescription wich i dont know whether is right or wrong.
Anyway i think is disgusting the price of prescriptions:mad:

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I've never paid for a prescription yet and would hate to do so. I have 4 different tablets for the epilepsy alone every month then every couple of months a standing order for antibiotics and ibuprofen. Hate to think how much it would cost.

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Hope you don't think I'm being nosy but why's that? :confused:

I thought only children and the over 60s got free prescriptions.

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And students... and those on certain benefits or limited finance....

I paid for my recent presciption items though, thankfully only needed two but its still pricey for a student!

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She falls into the latter ;)

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hahaha she isn't going to appreciate that neil :D

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For those who have regular prescriptions of numerous items, there are pre-payment certificates you can buy which saves alot of money per month. I think the cost of a 3 month one is about £26, so anyone who needs more than 4 items per month is much better off with one.

In fact there's a 12 month one too, which cost about £98 and can be paid for in 10 monthly direct debits. This of course offers a better saving.

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I would heartily endorse the pre-paid certificate.....it saved my hubby lots of money.
He has about 10 items per script so it would be very expensive for him if it wasn't for that.
Thankfully now he is of the age where the prescription is free......but that is my gripe really.....if Welsh folk get their scripts free and the Scots are going to be getting them free...then so should the people of England. I wonder if it counts as racial discrimination?

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There is a list of ailments which are on an exempt list Lily, heart problems, diabetes, people with a colostomy, and as Jen says epilepsy, there are more, but its a long time since I had the form which list them.

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Unfortunately not in all cases, she uses the pre pay system but its still a scandal.:mad:

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It all boils down to a tax on the sick. And to add insult to injury, as someone has already mentioned, some prescribed medicines can be bought over the counter for far less.

Some ten years ago my doctor would prescribe 3 months worth of the ‘keep my heart going etc.’ medicines because at the time I had to pay and because one of the items was simple Aspirin he told me to buy it over the counter. Then my local chemist complained to my doctor and he prescribed them on a monthly basis and included the Aspirin. I complained to the General Medical Council and was told that there is no limit on for how long medicines can be prescribed on a prescription and if I wanted to buy the Aspirin that was up to me. My doctor compromised with a two monthly basis and I always crossed off the Aspirin. My local chemist still complained and refused to service the prescription because I had crossed an item off.

The end result was that my GREEDY local chemist lost my custom and I used a different one who was quite happy to sell me the Aspirin over the counter but I had to stop crossing it off the prescription list. Hmmmmm!

The chemist that I use today isn’t as fussy although the names of the medicines change from one generic version to another almost every time.

In spite of me asking him on several occasions my doctor still insists on including Aspirin on the prescription. Is there an unspoken agreement between some doctors and some chemists? It makes me wonder.

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my fellas dad had angina and needed a lot of prescriptions, he still had to pay, untill he turned 60, its stupid really, people who NEED these drugs all the time should get em free, but unfortunately they dont:(

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Thanks, Jaysay. I didn't know that.

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Free or Reduced Cost Prescriptions

Theres a link for who gets free prescriptions and who dont.