To think the GP surgery could just sell me the bloody vaccine

[Pantone363]

DD is just outside the age range for the free jabs (April 15).

HV cannot recommend anywhere. She said call your GP and see if you can negotiate a price with them. They said no we're not selling it, recommended googling to find somewhere.

Every clinic i've called is out of stock or has stock and has bumped the price up to £200/300 ish per jab (from the £150 it was a few weeks ago).

I don't understand why I can't pay the GP surgery for the jab? They have it in stock, DD is a patient and i'm willing to pay.

AIBU?

What are you talking about?

The new Men B vaccine. Sorry omitted the crux of the thread

Which jab is it?

The thing is, the doctors will only have a limited supply - if they have 100 'portions' and 150 people that are entitled to the free one, they can't really give your dd one even if you were to pay?

YABU - the GP has enough vaccines for patients who are eligible. Why should your you DC take one if those just cause you're able to pay? How many others do you think should do the same as you?

Why can't you just get a prescription for it and order through pharmacy and then get your GP to administer it? Isn't that the simplest solution?

Because some GPs will only offer NHS services.

Many can, and do, offer private services in addition. But if yours doesn't, or doesn't offer the one you want, then there really isn't anything you can do.

(Their stocks will be NHS stocks, and they really can't divert those or any other NHS paid-for drugs into their private practices. So you'd need to pay for a private prescription for the vaccine, plus the appointment/administration charge).

They have stock enough for their patients who are entitled to it. If they sell it to you and anyone else who wants it, they won't have enough for their own list to get it.
Also, they don't have authorisation to sell it. Their allocation has been sent to them for the patients who are entitled to it. They can't make up a price and sell it off to you, they don't own it.

There are private clinics you can get it from.

Coconutpie, I didn't realise I could do that! Will call GP now

Clearly I don't expect the GP to give one to me just because I can pay, why would they only have limited stock? Surely they just order them in as and when they need them?

Well they could sell it to you, but will charge the £200 the others will

If you want it done it needs to be paid privately unfortunately. We did 2 years ago

They aren't allowed to just sell you NHS stock. It's not that simple.

If they offer private appointments, you can get it on private prescription, but you'd need to pay for the appointment and the vaccine at whatever the going rate is. If they don't, you'd need to go somewhere that does.

The more people that are willing to pay, the higher demand, so the higher the price. £270 seems to be the average for private prescriptions in the country at the moment. It may have been less a few weeks ago, but as with any purchase, if you missed the best price you can't complain.

Jawanna, the private clinics are out of stock. I've just called six in a 30 mile radius. One clinic has it but has bumped the price to £220 per jab so £440 in total

Surely they just order them in as and when they need them? I think the fact that you have called 6 private clinics and they are out of stock gives you the answer to that question!

The practice has a stock for NHS use - not to sell privately.

"the private clinics are out of stock"

Your GP will probably be out of stock of non-NHS vaccine too.

Try not to worry. It will come back into stock soon and you'll be able to get your dd vaccinated. But no, your doctor cannot sell you NHS vaccine.

The supplies the surgery has will be centrally funded by the NHS and they will only be allocated supplies based on requirement of eligible patients. Unfortunately due some fine print in GP's contract they are also not allowed to provide general private services to their NHS patients (unlike travel vacs which are explicitly not covered on the NHS) hence they are not able to provide a script etc either. Sucks I agree but unfortunately their hands are tied.

A n Other GP

Apparently the risk of MenB peaks at 5 months so you should really be making a decision as soon as possible if you want this vaccine, OP.

sympathy, we wanted the free flu jabs (nasal spray) but they are only offered for a narrow age band in other parts of the country. Argh.

why would they only have limited stock? Surely they just order them in as and when they need them?

If it was that easy, wouldn't the private clinics have plenty? Don't be daft, there isn't an endless supply of such things. My newborn is supposed to get a bcg vaccine, there isn't a single dose available in my entire country. It's not as simple as call someone and get more.

You say the private clinics don't have stock, and then that one does. So not out of stock then, just more than you want to pay. And if you can't get it in a 30 mile radius, go further. It all depends on how much you want it.

Surgery said I could email the practice manager and plead my case or keep trying to find somewhere.

Thanks for the advice

Sorry if I come across as being a bit thick but if Your dd is not in the age range for the vaccine why do think she needs to have it?

Jawanna, its not a one off seasonal jab, these jabs are being added to the childhood vaccine schedule so surely in future it is a case of there needing to be an endless supply of them?

I know that. There still isn't some magic pool of vaccine ever ready to go. It takes a lot of time and money to build up stocks to have enough for those eligible to get them under the schedule. Which is actually more difficult to do when the suppliers can sell it for more money to private clinics who can sell it to those who can afford to pay.

An NHS service cannot sell NHS stocks on a private patient basis. This is different for charging for services, E.g. sick notes, completion of other forms, etc. They just can't. They MAY be willing to administer a vaccine you obtain privately from another source, but this policy can vary from practice to practice, so you must check. But you will still need to pay for an appointment with a private doctor to get the prescription written up. Once you have paid for that and the drug itself, you may not be far off the clinic price.

I appreciate how hard you are trying to do what you feel is the best for your DC, and it must be frustrating that all clinics are out of stock. It might be worth having a chat with your local pharmacist who may be able to see on their system what the status with the vaccine is - there might be more stocks due to be released shortly, in which case you'll know when to next try for an appointment.