was the doctor unreasonable to make me pay???

[annoyeddotcom]

i'm married, 2 kids and had a split condom on sun night. called doctors on monday wouldn't see me for the emergency pill. told to ring today and spoke to the nurse who called thro to doctor who apparently shouted at her for interrupting him and he wouldn't see me so have ended up having to pay £27.50 in boots for the emergency pill.

absolutely ashamed, having to pour out my sexual accident to a 20 something pharmacist- MAN- who seemed as embaressed as me!

Please tell me I am not bu!!!!!!

I don't think a condom is considered to be unreliable is it? And the morning after pill is free from a family planning clinic. Or it was when I took it about 8 years ago - there was also a thread about the MAP recently and I gather it was more recently than that too.

I think you were treated badly by GP. It seems unprofessional of him (and seems like the nurse did too).

emergency contraception isnt gp prescription only.pharmacist can dispense across counter too

i'd use another form of contraception in the future. the pill is not the only thing out there. double up with copper coil or spermicidal creme.

why feel ashamed? people have sex.

i'd have rung a family planning clinic, tbh.

i used a MAP once from there and got it free for participating in a study in exchange.

£27.50 surely charging that much money is just asking for people not to bother and then having to deal with unwanted pregnancys.
Years ago I was prescribed the morning after pill by my GP but it was free. It was just a stronger ordinary pill and my GP even prescribed a full month rather than 4 tablets so it wasn't obvious to the pharmasist that it was the morning after pill.

When I needed the MAP there were some pharmacies where it was available free - some googling told me that, I wouldn't have been prepared to pay (couldn't afford it anyway!!) and was 5wks post-partum with DS so the only option was condom (which split). If it happens again I would look into which pharmacies provide it free of charge (through some sort of funding I think). YANBU although I can understand why the GP may have been reluctant to see you if he was snowed under with patients at the time.

I do agree that £27.50 is a lot to many people and surely we shouldn't be putting anyone off taking the MAP if they think they need it? Certainly given that you'd get the 'normal' pill on prescription free. A split condom is hardly 'irresponsible' either.

Not that it helps in this instance, but surely it ought to be possible to get the MAP prescribed by a nurse (I know not every practice has nurse prescribers), as there will be specific medical history questions to ask, yes, but nothing a nurse can't handle, and then no-one after the MAP is in the position of having to ask for a GP appointment they really don't need, to get a prescription item they do need.

youd have to be pretty fick to think £27.50.nah im not paying - i'll risk pg that costs hundreds

I think he was probably unreasonable for assuming you would pay, rather than do nothing and potentially have an unwanted pregnancy.

sadly i think there are plenty of people who would think just that scottishmummy

x-post with scottishmummy.

Sadly, I think some women might well just take the risk. Because until it's actually an unwanted pregnancy, it's all a bit unreal.

I wouldn't have thought to contact the doctor actually, would have gone straight to the pharmacy.

So for that reason

YABU

He probably never crossed his mind that you would just pay, he was probably just annoyed at being interrupted.

Its a difficult one - on one hand you are not ill, and it was available from a pharmacist. On the other hand £27.50 is a lot of money and contraception is provided free on NHS - had the doctor seen you it would have cost you less.

It costs the NHS a lot less than £25, and probably less than the prescription charge link.

Sounds like its the drug company taking the p*ss really. we should all campaign against this!

YANBU.
MAP is contraception hence exempt from prescription charges.
If I were aware of a patient requiring MAP I would prescribe over phone if necessary - but would also take advantage of the chance to discuss future contraception and sexual health (maybe not applicable to you as DH having snip - but often v useful for people who haven't necessarily thought about longer term contraceptive options).
Also not great to wait a day - more effective the sooner you take it.

Do condoms really 'split'?

Perhaps it works differently with my doctor, but we don't have to say beforehand what the appointment is for. If I'd needed to get the MAP on prescription, I would have just phoned up at 8am and been given a same-day appointment, no questions asked. Or am I just lucky with my GP surgery?

YABU - just go to the pharmacy surely?

The thing is, it doesn't warrant using an emergency appointment IMO, because you can buy what you need directly from a pharmacy.

I don't understand why you are ashamed though, and what is wrong with asking a pharmacist 'man' when you were happy to go to a Dr 'man'?
Quite immature and bizarre to be 'ashamed' of having sex with your own husband.

In MN land, MMe, there is a significant amount of contraceptive failure.

Reading your post though, it doesnt seem like the GP would have known that you had to pay - when the nurse asked him, he said that you should go to a pharmacy. From the posts in this thread it seems that sometimes this is free, and sometimes you pay. The GP wouldnt necessarily have know what applied it whichever pharmacy you went to.

YABslightlyU, you had other options.

You could have gone to another GP, you could have gone to a Family Planning Clinic. The nurse should have given you advice regarding other ways to access EC though.

I'm surprised she didn't see you, I'm a practice nurse and we have a protocol for issuing the ECP - I do the assessment and generate the prescription if you meet the criteria which the GP then signs. Having said that I am Family Planning trained, maybe that nurse wasn't.

I guess when you want the MAP, you wouldn't necessarily be in the right mood to internet search :(

I'm interested that you can get the MAP from walk-in centres, and on the fence re: YA(N)BU..

I think this is one of those squeaky wheel gets the grease situations. Someone being more bolshy would have said 'Well, if you're not going to see me I want you to do me a prescription some other way', and would probably then have got it. Likewise if asked the pharmacist might have had to admit that other places don't necessarily charge. But it sounds like the OP was just embarrassed and didn't want to go that route. At least maybe this thread will help anyone else who finds themselves in that position.

I am very suprised at the tone of the thread(v judgemental). Imo was not unreasonable to phone gp for map. surely better to prescribe that than have to deal with an unwanted preg?. And 30 quid is a LOT of money to some people(clearly not the anyone on here tho).
and I completely understand why she was embarassed at pharmacy. Dont want to be discussing sex life with total stranger within a foot of eavesdropping customers. At least with your gp you usually have some sort of relationship.
As for the suggestion she was some how being irresponsible with regards to contraception then sorry but condoms DO split(thats how me n dh ended up with number 3!). And before I get a barrage of posts about how there are other forms of contraception available I cant take ANY of them for health reasons.

its not so much the money, as taking GP time for something non urgent. and the time and inconvenience to go to GP, rather that to Boots

that said, it is rather expensive

nonethless I'd go to the pharmacy