Can a GP prescribe an over the counter medicine if patient cannot pay?

[Prescriptions]

Will a gp give prescription for an over the counter item for a patient with no money to buy it?

Is it at their discretion? The person involved doesn’t have to pay for prescriptions. If a request was made then would they consider it (it’s not something that can wait)
I can’t give more detail as it’s someone im supporting (we are volunteers I’m not allowed to gift or buy anything or lend money) but I wondered if the GP may help as a one off so I can help today to sort that out.

The issue is more likely to be that you cannot get a prescription today. If it’s a repeat prescription they normally take up to 48h. If it’s something they haven’t prescribed before then they may need an appointment first as they may not be happy to prescribe from a message from you.

They can prescribe paracetamol if it is deemed you need it on long term or permanent basis so that you can get packets of 100.

Technically, a doctor can’t prescribe ‘calpol’ but can prescribe ‘paracetamol suspension’.

My GP will prescribe meds I can buy over the counter for my son whose under 16 for his ezcema.
My dad has arteritis and is prescribed pain relief as its a long term condition.

Also it’s very unlikely that putting in a request later on today would result in a script today for non emergency scripts.
it’s really not Amazon and the gp usually takes a few days unless emergency.

I've had an antihistamine prescription once as a one off because I was getting married just moved house and literally had not a penny to my name (the cgeap wedding had been paid for in advance it was a benefits mess up so we had nothing) the doctor was happy to prescribe it

The GP surgery may also have links to charities that can help

Me too

DH is prescribed disolvable aspirin, but we always buy it even though he gets free prescriptions

Very posh lady in the pharmacy yesterday collected her prescription and loaned that it was bulky. “That’s your 200 paracetamol”.
She put them in the boot of her new Mercedes. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Well my DW has paracetamol on her prescription, we dont order it but we can if we want. I think doctors will prescribe most things if you cant afford to buy them.

Yes they can. But they might struggle to get an appointment. I'm assuming the person is eligible for free prescriptions.

Is it something that is covered by Pharmancy First?

The paracetamol thing mentioned up-thread is situational. It's because pharmacists and shops have restrictions on how many packs of paracetamol they can sell at the same time without a GP prescription. Without prescriptions from the GP, anyone on paracetamol for a long-term condition would be in and out having to buy more medication, like a boomerang, perhaps for the rest of their lives.

For the sake of argument, let's say I went to the GP today about knee pain. Let's say she diagnosed it as a self-limiting muscle strain, told me it would be better in a week and to take pain relief for the next 48 hours. She should simply tell me to buy a pack of 39p ibuprofen/paracetamol. That's fair.

However Mrs Smith down the road has severe osteoarthritis, and she takes 2 paracetamol tablets four times a day. That's half a pack gone in one day, and she can't simply go out to buy more because she's dependent on carers taking her shopping. If she runs out before someone can take her shopping, she's going to have to just endure the pain.

That's why she gets prescribed paracetamol, so she can have a month's supply in the house like anyone else would.

Happens in Scotland all the time. When my kids were younger the GP and / or pharmacist would offer to pop calpol on prescription- and we could afford it

Yes they can

GP has prescribed paracetamol, hayfever meds and heartburn meds for me. All available over the counter but because I needed larger quantities than is available OTC GP prescribed it for me

A GP once prescribed me one packet of plain paracetamol because I have a medical exemption certificate. I just bought them.

I’ve had similar situations when I worked in A&E, patients attending for simple analgesia, anti-histamines etc when they had no funds, we weren’t allowed to prescribe it for them, but we gave doses of the medication once they were triaged - so that is an option, and I understand that is not what A&E is for before people come at me with pitchforks.

If I had triaged them I would ring their GPs who sometimes agreed to right a prescription (for those on free prescriptions) however they were always clear it wouldn’t be on repeat.

The reason a GP may prescribe Paracetamol is is that the stupid government dictated we can only buy them in 16 tablet packs x 2 per shop.

This often results in having to trawl several shops to buy sufficient for my DH to make his meds up for two weeks and have sufficient for my use aswell
And if you cannot get to a shop or have limited mobility, its bloody difficult.

We used to get tubs of 500 tabs on prescription but given it costs the NHS so much more, we resolved to buy what we need while I’m able to shop.
But it’s inconvenient !

Possibly…….and I say that because years ago I was diagnosed with a condition and the prescribed medication was Enteric Aspirin 75mg. At the time I paid for my prescriptions so the GP wrote in my notes that I was going to buy the meds myself. The prescription charge was far more than the cost of the tablets which, at the time were around 99p for 28.

Even when I qualified for free prescriptions I still bought the tablets myself……then Covid hit and every man and his dog were buying every conceivable OTC medication and I was trucking to get the Aspirin so my GP agreed to add them to my meds list to ensure that I got them.

Sorry for banging on but in my instance the GP agreed.

The answer of course is maybe. It depends on the item, whether the GP already knows of the condition etc.

For future use, assume they are aware of support for people on very low incomes (assuming they are v low)?

www.gov.uk/help-nhs-costs

I read somewhere quite a while go, that each prescription costs the NHS £7, just in admin. I bet it’s more now.

So hardly surprising if they prefer people to buy e.g. paracetamol that costs pennies in any supermarket.

When I had shingles the GP told me I could buy a stronger painkiller, e.g. co-codamol, at Boots, and I was happy to do so.

Technically, a doctor can’t prescribe ‘calpol’ but can prescribe ‘paracetamol suspension’.

Technically, a doctor can prescribe the proprietary 'Calpol’ but what is likely to be dispensed is the generic ‘paracetamol suspension’.

The reason a GP may prescribe Paracetamol is is that the stupid government dictated we can only buy them in 16 tablet packs x 2 per shop.

The actions of the stupid government restricting paracetamol pack sizes has saved hundreds of lives since this measure was introduced in 1998.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21370910

Yes, they will. Mine put paracetamol on repeat prescription for me - not because I can’t afford to pay for it but because of the purchase limits when buying over the counter. I was taking the max dose per day and was constantly having to struggle to the shops specifically for paracetamol, all whilst suffering severe chronic pain and limited mobility. GP was happy to prescribe 500 at a time just to make life easier for me.