Mumsnet Talk

really. Why not make it a tenner and have done with it?

It's horrendous it really is, I have asthma and other things wrong with me and need inhalers plus 3 lots of other tablets every month. The doctor only gives out prescriptions for a months supply so it costs me a bloody fortune.
I recently looked into getting a prepayment certificate and it's only £10 a month direct debit so I have one of those now

glad they are free here (Scotland.). when we used to pay for them we used the pre-payment certificate to make it cheaper

Pre-payment certificates are great if you get more than one item a month. I get quite a bit because of multiple health problems (asthma/IBS/eczema) so I was having pre-payment certificates. I'm pregnant now and the novelty of it being free hasn't worn off!

It expensive but at times buying a prescription is cheaper than buying OTC. Price we have to pay I guess?

Yes the pre-payment cards are worth it if you have quite a lot of drugs regularly. My GP does like to give things a try and if they don't work move onto something more powerful. i think powerful will have to be Plan A from now on.

Can I be facetious and ask what the alternative is? We are so privileged to have an NHS where treatment is free at the point of delivery. Yes we have to pay for prescriptions but really we are not that hard done by. I would much rather pay £7.85 for a prescription than pay £60 to see a doctor and then £10-20 on top of that for a prescription.

Oh I appreciate that nots. It's just the price increase. I remember when they were £5 something. I am just thinking that's nearly 8 quid! And it may not even work.

I'm in Scotland and don't think they should be free here. They were always free for those on benefits/low income/the elderly/children and a pre-payment thing was only about £30 a year (i think!).

To have it free for everyone seems very strange. For most people the one (if that) prescription they need a year isn't even going to make a small dent.

I'm Scots too so don't pay either but didn't pay before because of tax credits exemption. It does work out a lot if you are on a few different medications.

I had a course of antibiotics and they didn't clear my chest infection, so went back and they tried another which did but only after I went back and got another week's worth. So £7.85 x3 for a chest infection. Great.

Dh's prescriptions total around £50 per month. We have a pre payment certificate.

I'm in Ireland 50 euro for drs and between my inhalers and Nebules for asthma. My prescription costs are 170 euro. That's monthly.

It would definitely be worth a lot of people having the prepayment certificates. They don't exactly advertise them do they?

If you get a lot of prescriptions you should look into prescription prepayment certifictes -- £29 for 3 months or £104 for a year.

Oops, I see it's already been mentioned but I hope you find the link useful.

Never paid for a prescription in my puff! Free in Scotland!

Definitely Trills.

I've also got an exemption certificate so never had to pay anyway...

I don't understand how they get away with charging in Scotland and not in England. It's supposed to be a National Health Service. But the prepayment certificates are a good idea. And also if you think people needed constant repeat prescriptions they would be on the list of free medicines. But they aren't.

Got my wires cross. But you know what I mean.

Lucky you Irnbru, any reason why you are being goady?

It's so utterly unfair re prescriptions being free in Scotland.

Isn't England the only place where you have to pay now? I'm sure it's fee in NI and Wales too. I guess the cost gets swallowed up by the individual governments?

Some of the inhalers cost around £50 each so we would all be very grateful we could pay under £10 if the alternative was paying full price (that includes me as I get inhalers too)

I work in the NHS and you would be stunned at the wastage by people who get free prescriptions. We often get carrier bags of expensive stuff returned.

I think instead of charging a small group of people for their prescriptions as now, a huge majority (almost 90% here of dispensed prescriptions are exempt, we should levy a small charge for every single item. That would make people value medicines more, reduce waste and save money to reinvest in the NHS

I do think they need to look at the fact that some people with long-term conditions get free prescriptions for everything whereas other people get nothing.

I believe if you have a thyroid problem for example all your prescriptions are free? How is that fair when folk with equally life-threatening conditions don't get anything free. By all mean have exemption for the drug relating to the condition but not also for your anti-b's and thrush cream.

dd takes life-long meds and would deteriorate without them but has to pay (even as as student). Thankfully she only has one prescription a month (unless she gets sick, which she does pretty often) but it's still near on a £100 a year.