I shouldn't be getting free prescriptions

[ssd]

because I live in Scotland

I work, so does dh

we have a combined income of £25k

we don't need a regular prescription every week

where I pick up my prescriptions, people I know who are lawyers, accountants, business owners all pick them up free, its across the board and not means tested

its all wrong, when people in England pay over £8 for theirs

it should be means tested, that and the winter fuel allowance , probably loads more I cant think of just now

I have rheumatoid disease, my red prescription drugs are free as they can only be prescribed by a hospital but the other eight prescription drugs,I take daily for the same and other auto immune problems I have to pay for.
These drugs like insulin for diabetics, keep me out of hospital so why do I have to pay?
I can no longer work due to health problems, it's very expensive being ill.

Those of you that need large quantities of painkillers can buy them from pharmacies. They aren't limited to selling 2 small packets - I think they are allowed to sell 500 at a time.

Free prescriptions were meant as a sort of preventative for future illnesses so people would actually go to a Gp its not the scottish goverments fault that England hasn"t got this however England is a bigger country perhaps they cant afford it. I have always been medically excempt from paying for prescription many scottish people got free prescriptions anyway and Gps dont fling medicine at people if they dont need it

The scots have slightly more money per head because of the barnet formula. Even so, I dont think that scots have that much more money. They just spend it differently.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-34506708

Healthy scottish millionaires probably don't care that breast cancer suffers die so that they can get their hayfever tablets on free prescription. I wonder if having every one on free prescriptions cloggs up the GP surgery unnecessarily?

The scots have free prescriptions but poorer access to cancer drugs than the English. English university student may have to pay fees, but English schools are better resourced.

You have to ask what is cut to pay for universal free prescritpions or uni fees.

YABU It's not scotland's fault that the english government chose to spend their money the way they do.

The points about the admin costs of means testing and the inconsistency in exemptions are well made.

I think a better approach would be to look at making better use of pharmacist prescribing to save doctor's appointments and also inconsistencies in what the NHS is paying for prescription drugs vs otc alternatives.

(As an aside, given that the payback threshold is lower and Scottish degrees are longer for certain income levels (£30kish) a Scottish student with a full maintenance grant would repay more than their English counterpart. This was even more the case prior to the higher levels of English grants being replaced by loans).

Pharmacies are limited to 100 paracetamol OTC, Barbara. Boxes of paracetamol are always multiples of 16, though, so the most u you can actually get is 96

Any pharmacy can sell you painkillers its only shops that limit you

not true Mrs Jayy, pharmacists may only sell you 32 tablets at a time.

Im not sure what your gripe is OP. Are you moaning that you got your prescriptions for free and think you should pay for them? Or that England has to pay for them and Scotland (lets ignore Wales, its clearly only a problem in Scotland) doesnt. Like has been posted above, after means testing about 80% were still entitled to free prescription, and it cost more in administration to means test 100% than what was paid from the remaining 20%. And its not exactly free. Free at point of use maybe. But not free.

The prepayment certificate is excellent value. I've had one for years. Just over £100 for medication for a year .

I have felt incredibly lucky over the years to have subsidised prescriptions. Without the PPC I would have been paying around £60 a month at one point to cover prescription costs.

You don't understand how difficult it is for people to open basic bank accounts. It does not matter what the legislation says, banks are very reluctant to open them.

OK AY 500 was a guess. I've looked it up now and you are correct. You can also get stronger ibuprofens from pharmacies too and things like co-codamol, if that's what you need.

I used to have to choose between my anti-depressant meds and food. Certainly something not right about it.

HPFA then why doesn't he pay for the medication for his Crohn's meds then? you don't automatically get free prescriptions if you have a medex card, you have to tick the box on the back of the prescriptions, and sign the declaration in other words you have to CLAIM.

When I had a medex card for my underactive thyroid I never once presented my medex card for any medication other than for my thyroxin, even when I had a chest infection and was prescribed steroids antibiotics and an inhaler I didn't claim on my medex card I paid for them I work and can afford to.

Now I am over 60 its a different matter, as my age and DOB is computer generated on the front of my prescription and I do not have to fill in the claim parts on the back of the prescription so when I had another chest infection and tried to pay I wasn't allowed to as I am automatically exempt, if I actually had to claim and fill in the back I wouldn't do so and would pay

60 is too young to get free prescriptions it should be at pension age and not before, and it would be easy to administrate If the NHS Business Services Authority who end out fines for people who claim incorrectly have the authority to check if people on benefits, tax credits and low incomes are entitled to free prescriptions they will be able to check if a person is at pension age.

I also (slightly amusingly) got half a free pair of prescription lenses as one eye was just past some NHS threshold for something. The glasses themselves (which I was paying for) cost £250+. I understand that administering the means testing may cost more than just doling out these things, but it felt a bit absurd.

I beg your pardon, I appear to be wrong. I will be tackling a couple of pharmacies in town about this. grrrrr.

Law on selling paracetamol, for anyone who needs to know.

I suppose the question would be, why do Scotland and Wales appear to be able to offer more to their citizens, such as free uni fees in Scotland, precriptions, car parking at hospitals etc? Are they more effecient? Do they have more money in the first place? Or are they missing out on something else that we have in England instead, but are too busy moaning about hospital car parking and prescription charges to notice

The Scottish Government choose to spend some of their budget on free prescriptions because the NHS is devolved, Westminster who run the English and Welsh NHS choose not to. They do have money spend on areas that Scotland doesnt such as the walk-in centres.

OP you do know it costs less to budget for free prescriptions for everyone than means test, charge some people etc dont you? Or are you just wanting people to have yet another anti-SNP thread?

paracetemol guidance here
so I can buy enough for nearly two weeks at a time.

I'm quite cross about being misled by local pharmacies about this.

it should be means tested

Which would cost more, so whats the point?

I think you do want an anti-Scottish thread or an anti-SNP thread.....

I'd like an answer from the Department of Health about why all medication is free for those on free prescriptions.

Dh gets free prescriptions. It is madness that should he get a boil on his bottom any cream for that would be free when it has absolutely nothing to do with the drugs necessary for his ongoing condition.

Means testing is wrong for so many reasons. But necessity testing would surely save the NHS a huge amount of money.

I hate waste of any kind, and when I saw what the pil had hoarded away - that they had never used and would have been readily in any supermarket, not even behind the counter - I was really quite angry about the profligacy of the NHS.

I stand corrected about the buying of painkillers at a chemist I was sure a pharmasist (sp) could sell more

My asthma is always so well controlled when I'm pregnant, it's wonderful. The rest of the time though we have to pay for my prescriptions so on tight months I just don't get them.

If I'm having a particularly bad week with it and haven't been able to afford the £16 for my two pump refills, my friend, who gets free prescriptions because she has a thyroid condition, gives me some of her surplus. She always has a surplus. Must be lovely.

Interestingly, my local (chain) pound shop sells packets of 16 paracetamol at 3 for £1