Thanks for being so gracious in response to a lecture you already knew! (And which we both knew wouldn't be any use to you for this last set of charges, anyway, since FP57s seem to be among the NHS's best-kept secrets, and it can be awkward enough squeezing one out of a pharmacy even if you ask for it.) I would've just hated to think that you, or someone else, might be struggling with prescription costs or be reluctant or put off getting their prescriptions, when hard-to-find information about PPCs, FP57s and backdating could help them.
Glad you're feeling better now. Annoying, the way that fell out for you, with the two separate batches. Prescription charges often seem to work out like a random penalty, on things like exact timing, personal circumstances that don't bear much relation to ability to pay, and suchlike.
Like you say, we're lucky in comparison to some countries, but there are still people who struggle with the (often unexpected, often badly-timed) costs, and it can all seem so bloody arbitrary sometimes. I bought a PPC for years because I was on a complex combination of drugs for one condition, plus both regular and occasional drugs to treat two or three other conditions. Then I develop one more condition, treated with one cheap tablet a day, and suddenly everything is free, because of a quirk of history or something. And then there's the free prescriptions starting at age 60, which doesn't seem to bear much relation to anything else these days.
Edit: They could even just do something similar to systems they have in other countries, where you pay charges up to a certain limit within a defined time period, then anything you need after you've hit that limit is automatically covered for the rest of that time period.
They could still sell the slightly better-value 12-month PPC for people who get regular prescriptions and have to pay, but in effect, everyone else who pays for their prescriptions could be automatically enrolled on the 3-month PPC if they've hit the £32 limit in the last month, or whatever. I mean, they wouldn't be getting any more of a discount than they're already entitled to obtain via receipts and forms and buying a PPC and backdating up to a month and going to get a refund and all that palaver. And it's not like they don't know who we all are, what prescriptions we've all had and what charges we've paid, FFS.
But there's no incentive for them to make it easier for people who have to pay to avoid paying more than they need to. Even though those people who pay are in a minority. Apparently 60% of the population is exempt, and 95% of prescriptions dispensed are exempt.
At this point, charging a select few, who may or may not be able to easily absorb the costs, and making it as awkward as possible to recoup charges, seems almost like pettiness.