NHS doctors comment

It's for 2 reasons, 1 to get to know the patient as a person, holistic care and interest in your wellbeing etc, and 2 because occupations can have an impact on health. Manual labourers are going to get arthritis more often than sedentary desk workers, someone with exposure to dust might get lung disease, publicans have higher rates of alcoholism. You don't need to give details, just the broad idea of the type of toll on your body/brain.

Yanbu op, I've had this too. Dh is a banker and I never ever say this to anyone because of these types of remarks. It's not really funny because you wouldn't say this about other professions. I'm just very vague about what dh does now.

I'm a GP. It was inappropriate for him to comment on your income, but the point is correct that if it is available without prescription, you and everyone else should buy it, according to NHS rules. We are extremely pressurised by the powers on high to stop prescribing over the counter products. All GPs bend the rules, sometimes because it's the morally right thing to do such as an asylum seeker who has very little money, sometimes because the patient needs large quantities of eg paracetamol that they can't buy without multiple trips, sometimes yes because I don't have it in me for the inevitable argument yet again. However it doesn't actually sound like you did press for a prescription, he didn't need to mention it at all, he could've just said, this is the medicine which can be bought without any prescription. He shouldn't have brought your income into it, not unless/until you asked.

Where I work we don’t prescribe things available over the counter unless there’s a financial issue for the patient. It wouldn’t occur to me to get a script for something I can just purchase myself, as I’m financially able to do so.

It’s not ok to comment on someone’s job or to make assumptions about their income however. There are also people who appear wealthy but who are drowning in debt or subject to financial abuse. You really can’t tell much about someone from hearing what their job is.

He's got a point. I had to see the GP about a skin condition and she wrote me a prescription which turned out to be a cream I could have bought over the counter myself. I realised too late, after I'd picked up the prescription. I'm almost certainly not as wealthy as someone who works in an investment bank, but I'm lucky enough to be able to buy my own non-prescription products and I do what I can to support the NHS.

It was inappropriate.
But I'm surprised a consultant was giving you a prescription. They usually write to your GP with recommendations and it's the GPs responsibility to issue the prescription

I agree it was inappropriate and I'm really surprised posters think it's ok.

NHS doctors aren’t supposed to prescribe medication that can be bought over the counter. The cost to the NHS of prescribing and then dispensing the medication is significantly higher than the actual cost of the medication, so it’s a waste of NHS resources.

Wow people out here really do try to be offended by everything!

It’s normal to ask your job but the comment was rude! Some things are cheaper OTC but he sounds like he was being a twat!

It's not just cost though, unless the medication is significantly more expensive than the cost of a prescription it might not be worth the hassle of ordering a repeat prescription and having it dispensed.

His comments were not appropriate, especially considering his own salary will be in excess of £100k.

However I can’t help wondering, given his comments, what the prescription was for. Weight loss injections or other otc medication? I personally would always buy otc medication rather than a prescription if it was an option. In my opinion prescriptions where there is an otc option should only be available to people below a certain income.

The thing with drs are there very bright but don't always have the best people skills this seems like a misjudged attempt to be funny and build a rapport i doubt he meant anything by it. Drs often ask you what you do for a living just to build some form of relationship so that your seen as more then just a body. I'd also be mindful of if the dr was originally from the area as humour is very different dependent on where you live. I really wouldn't think to much of it.

YADNBU the whole point of the NHS is that it is free at the point of use. It is funded by the taxpayer and we have a progressive tax system to which you contribute. The NHS depends on high earners to be net contributors. Comments like the ones this fool made encourage the already too frequent belief that we should not help each other out, that taxation is theft and that the NHS should be privatised. Doctors opposed the introduction of the NHS resulting in the currant system that permits consultants to work both privately and for the NHS.

He is ignorant.

Unless someone is getting free prescriptions or being prescribed a VERY long course it definitely won't be cheaper to pay the prescription charge than buy paracetamol or ibuprofen off the shelf!

If you see him again, ask him if he pays for his prescriptions.
He sounds like one of those people who think they're much wittier and funnier than they actually are.
Just forget it, he's not worth bothering about.

I don’t know why we’re asked what we do for a living in hospital appointments. It always feels intrusive to me.

It usually means it’s cheaper…been remotely prescribed high strength iron tablets and online they are a third of the price

You be surprised but some medicine is cheaper over the counter .wonder if that's what he is suggesting

He's right though.

To be honest I am surprised he offered you the option of a prescription if you can buy it over the counter. I think his comment was out of line, but I think he would have been right just to tell you to go and buy whatever it was.

Yes, it was rude and inappropriate.

I would have asked him if on his very nice consultant’s salary the NHS is also subsidising him.

Sorry clearly tired…would not have dreamed of saying this during a consultation.

I’m an NhS consultant . I think this was inappropriate and would not have dreamed of saying this to a consultant.
I would occasionally suggest that drugs such as paracetamol or aspirin be bought over the counter by someone working as the cost to the NHS of a prescription is much higher than the cost of the medication to the patient. Not often though…