Why did my prescription cost £11?

[Faythe]

Prescription from the dentist, took it to the local pharmacy and was charged £11.

I thought prescription costs might have increased but Google says it is still £9.90. I'm in England.

Before I make a fool of myself by ringing the pharmacy, thought I'd check here to see if I've missed something obvious!

It probably is not covered by nhs.

Because you went to a private dentist, so you got a private prescription?

I paid £27 for Naproxen using a prescription from a private physio. I queried it and was told the price varies on the cost of the drug so not set in stone.

Yeah it’ll be a private script. Sometimes they’re cheaper but more often they’re more expensive.

If it was a NHS dental script the paper would’ve been yellow and rectangular. Private scripts tend to have the company logo or letterhead and can be differently sized and any colour.

If its a private dentist you have to pay for any medication. My son qualifies for free prescriptions but I had to pay for antibiotics from a private dentist

You’re going to call them over the sake of £1.10?

I think it was just to query prescription charges the op was a bit confused but as pp have pointed out it will have been a private prescription.

Only because it's a private prescription. If it had been an NHS prescription, you would have paid the fixed £9.90 fee irrespective of the actual cost of the meds.

I pay £9.90 for my naproxen.

Is that a NHS script or private one though?

Do you go to a private dentist?

I get that (actually mine are free as I'm 73), I queried the cost of the drug - she said a private script varies depending on the drug

NHS. £27 is a rip-off 😬

No, £27 is much more likely to represent the actual cost. It'll also depend on the dose, quantity and type.

https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/naproxen/medicinal-forms/

Prescription fees are sometimes much more than the cost of the medicine and sometimes substantially less so it's hard to know the real value of what you are prescribed.

I'm sure that's true, but it seems insane to pay triple what the NHS charges.

@vanillalattes the NHS is subsidising the cost of most meds, that's why.

My migraine triptan nasal sprays cost £45/month. My triptan pills cost £8.49/month. My antisickness pills cost £3.75/month. That's £57.24 I should be paying each month, plus the £386.50/month for my migraine prevention injections each month.

But I only pay £9.54/month for my annual prescription pass.

Sounds like it was a prescription from a private dentist. I had the same. Prescribed antibiotics from a private dentist, and had to pay £13 even though I don't pay for NHS prescriptions. It is what it is.

Yes, I know they are. Just seems crazy that you can't go to an NHS pharmacy and just pay NHS charges.

@vanillalattes do you genuinely not understand the system? If its prescribed outside the NHS, you don't get the benefit of the NHS subsidies. That's the crux of it.

A pharmacy is not an NHS owned business, they are all private businesses. They just offer some NHS services, including fulfillment of NHS prescriptions which attract either a fixed fee or are free depending on your personal circumstances. You, the patient, have to prove your eligibility for free prescriptions or pay up.

If you bring in a prescription which is not issued via the NHS, you pay the going rate. That's not a question of crazy or expensive, it's because you aren't benefitting from the NHS service.

Of course I understand the system - doesn't make it (IMO) any less ridiculous.

In Boots it was the same price as an NHS one a year or so ago when I got a private dental script. But I guess there's a loophole where pharmacies can charge more for the private ones? It seems a little unfair but at least it's only a couple quid extra.

Oh, and there are NHS pharmacies @NeedForSpeedyGonzales. Quite a lot of them, in fact (mainly in hospitals, but they do exist).

Hospital pharmacies work in a completely different way to community pharmacies. I couldn't pop to them with a prescription from my GP to have it filled.