Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be fed up of doctors doing this

158 replies

Catlady1976 · 02/02/2017 20:57

I have a couple of long term medical conditions and I get items on a repeat prescription. Ever 6 months I have to make an appointment for a review and they are reissued. All good.
However a couple of times now an item has been removed from my repeat without consultation. It is a bath additive for a skin condition I have.
The last time it happened I queried it and they put it back on.
Maybe the rules have changed and I can no longer get this on prescription. (NHS under pressure etc etc).
However I still think that if they are going to remove it they should consult with me first to check how severe my symptoms are.
AIBU

OP posts:
CantChoose · 02/02/2017 22:23

That's interesting madam. I assumed the letter thing was the same everywhere.
It must be very confusing for patients to suddenly get a medication that is different.
You used to be able to prescribe loads of gluten free stuff; cakes, biscuits, all sorts. Its a lot more widely available now I suppose but that's a whole other debate!

GlitterGlue · 02/02/2017 22:24

Mermaid, why don't you get a prepayment certificate instead? It's about £10 a month on direct debit.

I understood why they swapped my medication to a cheaper version, but it was a complete waste of NHS resources when they made me book an appointment to see the gp to ask them to reinstate the older version as the new version didn't work effectively for me. Apparently a note on the system or a telephone appointment wasn't possible.

AliceInUnderpants · 02/02/2017 22:24

It frustrates me so so much when people in the chemist get bottles of calpol/boxes of painkillers etc on free prescription.

Boxes of painkillers may be only "One single pound", but when you're taking 200+ of them a month, and housebound for most of that month, it isn't as fucking simple as that, for many people.

wickerlampshade · 02/02/2017 22:24

We batch removed all bath additives a while ago. There's no evidence for them. We sent a letter to all patients explaining it though.

Bunnyfuller · 02/02/2017 22:24

I think it's a very good way for the NHS to cut back fairly easily. More and more things are being ok-D for OTC use. It's not about signatures, it's the cost of the meds/creams etc to the NHS. And it's also fab that you can just get stuff you need in the majority of cases. We've got to start using our NHS more carefully.

LovelyBath77 · 02/02/2017 22:28

I had DS's E45 cream changed to something else-Zero cream and also the pill Cerazette changed to a cheaper version. GP did put a note explaining the change. Otherwise I just get 3-monthly prescriptions which they say dates to review but never seem to.

It os cheaper getting them 3-monthly as all meds on one prescription and only the one charge every 3 months. Maybe you could ask to change to that instead.

MrsNuckyThompson · 02/02/2017 22:29

Drives me insane. I am type 1 diabetic and sometimes I turn up to collect insulin and it isn't there. I would die within a day or two without it!

Why does this happen? Because they write 'review needed' on my repeat. Except I don't use the repeat script because my surgery has an online request system. They don't call or email (couldn't they have an automated system to match)

In any event my GP is not able to manage a chronic complex condition so I am under consultant care st hospital as it should be. Diabetes does not get cured and I'm not aware that anyone has found a way to get off on insulin so these medication reviews are just daft and a waste of an appointment for them as well as me.

Infuriates me and thankfully I have a kind pharmacist who lends me insulin each time it happens.

Original poster
Catlady1976 · 02/02/2017 22:30

No problem with things being changed to cheaper items.
Our doctors will only give a months supply.

OP posts:
TheOnlyColditz · 02/02/2017 22:32

I think removing the repeats on otc items is a fantastic idea. I used to do homecare and if you could see the stockpile some people build up, just for the sake of it, just because it's 'free' as opposed to 19p, you would support this too.

Our NHS is collapsing under the strain of an aging population. We need to buy our own vitamins, buy our own gluten free cakes and bread, buy our own minor painkillers and buy our own bath additives. Then maybe in ten years we won't have to buy our own chemotherapy.

FeliciaJollygoodfellow · 02/02/2017 22:34

Those of you getting things on repeat you don't need, why don't you just ask the chemist not to fill that part of the prescription? I pay for mine and when I couldn't afford both the triptans and the medicated cream I got the cream and said I'd come back for the pills.

PremierCru · 02/02/2017 22:36

@Catlady1976 Why do you think the NHS should prescribe it to you?

Kennington · 02/02/2017 22:38

Petrolatum, petroleum jelly, Vaseline, baby oil are all pretty much of a much and extremely cheap and have been knocked out and marked up a fortune by the paraffin mafia who make them.
The evidence for them working isn't great although I gather they are soothing, for about 5 minutes.

youarenotkiddingme · 02/02/2017 22:39

madam that's interesting about movicol. I'll watch out for that! Ds takes movicol paediatric and gets 150 sachets at a time.

Ds also takes Senna and I've been known to buy it every now and again if we get caught short! A 250ml bottle lasts 2 weeks so for a few quid I don't see the issue. It's a pita getting a bottle that'll last 2 weeks and then having to request again after a week to get it in time for it running out!

Maybe that's why they do it - because I can buy it and say them money.

esk1mo · 02/02/2017 22:39

my GP changed my pain medication from 6 per day to "two be taken at night" without any consultation or knowledge of whether or not my pain is better or worse.

have switched GPs now.

OhSoggyBiscuit · 02/02/2017 22:40

To be fair, £10 on one pot of cream can be quite a big chunk for some people. At least my big pump pot of Aveeno cream will last me a while despite being quite expensive!

Original poster
Catlady1976 · 02/02/2017 22:42

Because U Was told I needed to use this to prevent painful flare ups. Guess I will just have to buy it.
It would be nice to have been told through rather than just ignore my repeat request.

OP posts:
Itscurtainsforyou · 02/02/2017 22:42

I think it's hard for those continuously on otc painkillers because you just can't buy them in the quantities you need.

I get my American friend to bring over tubs of ibuprofen & paracetamol whenever she visits as they still sell them in bulk over there...

I have a medical exemption but do buy otc whenever I can, especially things like calpol etc for the kids. I'm not rolling in money but I can afford it a lot more than I can afford private health care if the NHS crumbles.

QuinionsRainbow · 02/02/2017 22:44

My gp added paracetamol to my repeat prescription ... I'd never want it on prescription since I can just get it for 19p a box at Aldi or whatever, and save the nhs a bit ... I keep asking for it to be taken off, then a couple of months later it goes back on again

Surely, even if the Dr gives you a prescription for paracetamol, you don't actually have to take it to be dispensed - just carry on buying it over the counter at 19p per box.

Original poster
Catlady1976 · 02/02/2017 22:44

Exactly oh my moisturizer costs similar but it lasts a year.

OP posts:
Expellibramus · 02/02/2017 22:46

The gluten free stuff is ridiculous and should never have been on prescription, it's not needed if you're gluten free and arguably less healthy than just replacing gluten containing foods with naturally gluten free ones.

Stuff like this just shows how stupid decisions that cost a fortune get made.

Expellibramus · 02/02/2017 22:48

I'm not saying being gluten free is ridiculous - just the thought that you actually need the gluten free 'substitutions' when they're usually sugary white carbs anyway,

LittlePaintBox · 02/02/2017 22:49

My GP surgery now has a list up of things that won't be prescribed. They do keep offering to prescribe me paracetamol for arthritis, I think that's so I don;t have to keep going back and buying the maximum I'm allowed to buy every few days, but I keep refusing.

@ whoever said their friend gets Oilatum on prescription to wash cashmere jumpers - have you ever used Oilatum? It would be horrendous getting it out of a cashmere jumoer!

Bunnyfuller · 02/02/2017 22:51

The quantity thing is hard with the painkillers, but at 19p a pack....hardly bank breaking? 16 per pack divided by say 250? Is that about £2.56 a month? Not sure how you get round the quantity thing though, although I think Aldi sell 3 X pack of 16 for a pound.

My DD was on mov icon and they changed it to cosmocol in the summer, once the hospital's original script had finished. I was petrified but we've not noticed any difference. A lot of the time don't they just prescribe stuff that the patent has expired on and can be sold under different names/generic?

thetreesarebare · 02/02/2017 22:53

There is protocol on constantly re issuing repeat press. People always stockpile. Only so many issues can be done before review. Drs are well aware of people genuinely requiring meds & those that are quite simply addicted to opiates. If you have a genuine need there should be no problem just calling to explain or having a phone consult. It most definitely should be made more difficult for those not requiring these meds for pain.

Lunde · 02/02/2017 22:57

I live in Sweden and here we have to pay for medications until you have spent more than £200 per year per person (children in the same family its £200 between them) - you pay the actual full cost until £100 and get increasing discounts after that (50%, 75%, 90%) until you have paid the full 200 and then they issue a free card for the remainder of the year.

You cannot get normal otc medications on prescription unless you have a chronic condition that requires a large dosage for long periods.