Would it be wrong of me to do this?

[Happyland8]

So I've had to buy an annual prescription. £104 for the year. I have a chronic condition which unfortunately doesn't fall in the category which gives me free prescriptions so this will be cheaper for me than paying the £8.80 charge per item.

The problem is, I'm now going to be loathed to pay for many of the things I have previously bought over the counter. For example (apologies in advance for the overshare), I seem to get recurrent bouts of thrush, the GP is aware. Rather than waste the GP's time, I normally buy some canesten over the counter which is in the region of a tenner. I'm going to be loathed to pay that now when I'm already paying the annual prescription charge. I feel like I'd rather get a GP appointment and get a prescription and then I won't have to pay the extra £10. Would this be wrong of me? I don't want to be a time waster with the GP but I'm paying a fee to have unlimited prescriptions at no extra charge so I'd like to optimise that since DH & I are on a small budget.

Please don't flame me. I don't want to be a drain on the NHS resources. If our finances weren't tight I wouldn't even consider this and it's not as though I'm getting my prescriptions free, I'm paying a monthly fee for them.

Thanks.

If you're paying an annual charge and money is tight then yes, definitely get the prescriptions on the NHS. It would be a different matter if you could afford it, and it sounds like you certainly would if you could. So go for it. What I really hate is people who fleece the resources when they don't have to, but it sounds like you have a genuine need.

Why don't u pay for it if you have the spare cash at the time it's needed and if you are tight that month then call and ask for a prescription via a telephone appointment.

If its recurring then surely it's better the doc is aware how often and if he needs to see you about it.

And it's clamour, not clamber, but I'm far too polite to point it out.

Well played Judas, well played.

Why are you needing to use 1 or 2 tubes of Canistan a month? Have you not approached your GP about this to see if it is something else or treat the cause? And yes natural bio yogurt is excellent and cooling I've never used anything else whenever I get any symptom of any imbalance or irritation down there.

If (for example) you receive Jobseekers Allowance which is about £72 a week, a tenner is a huge chunk of that and may leave you unable to afford essentials like food and bills. So I find it reasonable for such a person to ask for medication to be prescribed instead of purchasing. Similar for pensioners who receive around £125 a week.

Someone who has a prepaid prescription may or may not have more disposable income. However they've technically already prepaid for any medication they need so why should they not make use of that? Unless it's really cheap stuff like paracetamol or flu medicine etc.

I wouldn't think twice about asking your GP frankly.

I used to avoid asking for anything until I became aware that GPs still tend to prescribe for anything and everything regardless ... a lot of my family are walking pill boxes of stuff they don't need / isn't really recommended (i.e. too many antibiotics when unclear of benefits, steroid injections rather than insisting they bother with physio) , so now I don't hesitate to ask about recurring conditions.

When it recurring you really need to get your GP on board, that is not wasting NHS time or resources

The only thing you need to buy to clear up thrush is greek yogurt and a syringe

is this true???

No. Studies have shown Greek yoghurt (or any kind of foodstuff) does not cure thrush.

@HappyLand8

Good luck with that! Many surgeries are now refusing to give stuff on prescription that you can buy over the counter.

Me and DH had a pre-payments card several years back, and I had thrush, so I went to the doctor, (as the cream is six pounds!) but she said I need to buy it from the pharmacy myself.

I get where you are coming from, and know you're probably not loaded (like many people,) but I think you'll be made/asked to buy over-the-counter type stuff yourself.

And yeah it is kind of wrong, but I can't blame you for wanting to do it.

If you DO have recurring thrush by the way, ask the doctor for Terbafin, it cured mine. I was getting it every few months for about 1.5 years, and I haven't had it since last July when I took a course of them. They are on prescription. So you will get that under the terms of your card, and the thrush shouldn't come back...

You want to cost the NHS upwards of 40 pounds every time you want to save a tenner?

Not Greek yoghurt, natural plain active bio is soothing and slightly acid so will help, also vinegar or lemon in bath, or dilute and wash with it. Use anti dandruff shampoo as shower gel. Also diet can help. But if it is systemic, recurrent and internal then you need medication.
If you have recurrent thrush, or other fungal infection (athletes foot, oral thrush, patches on your skin, blepharitis) it's important to keep it under control.
I had a persistent fungal toenail infection and was prescribed lamisol in tablet form, it cleared all the above, but may be bad for your liver.

If the OP is getting this thrush so much that she needs 2 tubes of canestan a month, she needs something stronger (and the canestan probably isn't even working now!!!)

Apologies @Happyland8, it's not terbafine, it's terbinafine ... Ask the doctor to prescribe them for you.

It's a course of 24 tabs that you take once daily. Should cure the thrush, and it is on prescription, and you should need no more tubes of canestan.

Here is the tablet...

www.google.co.uk/search?q=terbinafine+tablets&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiHofjmkcvaAhWE66QKHXKnDKIQ_AUICSgA&biw=1242&bih=602&dpr=1.1

www.google.co.uk/search?q=terbinafine+tablets&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi06dvkkcvaAhURGewKHYeRC-0Q_AUICygC&biw=1242&bih=602#imgrc=-MfHPqWc45V48M:

I dont get why people are on the OP’s case. If she can get it for free why shouldnt she get it for free? She sounds like she hasnt got much money so surely she is a worthy case. As i said, the real cost to the NHS is the entitled boomer generation using it for unnecessary appointments. Appointments should be means tested. The boomers are rolling in it so they - and others with plenty of money - should be made to pay 100 for each appointment. They’d soon stop going to see the doc about a routine cold. Money saved could be used to subsidise people who are out of work, low earners and people on benefits.

Don't be spiteful @crop Whilst I agree that someone who is struggling financially should at least TRY and get it via their PP card, the boomer attack is unnecessary. Many of them paid shitloads of tax and N.I. into the system (a lot more than SOME have who are in the surgery every bloody week!) and are quite entitled to see the doc if they are worried about something.

You sound very bitter and angry. Having a bad day?

I am not a boomer by the way ! I am generation x.

Not being spiteful mandie, just making an honest point. Im comfortable myself and would be willing to pay for appointments if they became means tested. I think it is only fair, if we all want to keep the NHS.
Not having a bad day btw, having lovely day - the sun is shining 😎

I dont get why people are on the OP’s case. If she can get it for free why shouldnt she get it for free?

I don't get why they're on her case either, crop - especially as she isn't getting it free - she has paid £104 to cover all her prescriptions for the year!

Well we'll have to agree to differ, coz I thought it an unnecessary attack on older people. When I go to the docs, it's 2 thirds full of people younger than me, including people who are there for drug and alcohol-dependency treatment, and who have clearly never worked a day in their lives...

Many people over 65 have earned their stripes and shouldn't be made to feel guilty or bad for going to the GP.

Happyland8 I've sent you a pm.

especially as she isn't getting it free - she has paid £104 to cover all her prescriptions for the year!

Yes, but she would, technically, be getting the “extras” free of charge as the annual fee is less than the prescription charges she bought it to cover.

Legally of course there is no problem with doing it but the NHS is in deep financial shit and the cost of a GP appointment plus medication for something you can self diagnose and buy over the counter seems wrong.

Have you tried the tablet rather than the cream? And you know you don’t have to buy the canestan brand. Buy the generic version, it’s the same thing and all pharmacies will sell it.

Not being spiteful

Your phrasing says otherwise.

Not all baby boomers are rolling in it,we are still working so obviously like everyone else can't get a doctor's appointment.
I also take objection to use of 'old biddie',some of us are ambitious and aspire to be Crones.

Yes, but she would, technically, be getting the “extras” free of charge as the annual fee is less than the prescription charges she bought it to cover

It covers prescription costs for a year - the whole idea is to make prescriptions more affordable for people who need lots of medication but do not qualify for free prescriptions. She is using the scheme as intended.

Exactly screaming. I had a period when i had one of these cards. Saved me a bloody fortune.