GP Practise, changing prescription for cheaper one!!

[birdladyfromhomealone]

. Im spitting mad today.
I have had a letter from my GP telling me the practise can not afford to pay for my cancer drugs prescribed by my Neurologist so as of next week they are changing my prescription for a different type which is cheaper for the practise.
I pay for my prescriptions £30 plus a month.
Who do they think they are?

It has taken months to get used to these drugs and they want me to change and get more side effects to get used too 😞 I am seeing the neurologist team at Kings on Monday afternoon for my 6 month check up so will complain to them and see if they will write to my GP.

Swelling is going down on my tummy now and no more bleeding.

I am having a mammagraph next week then get all my results on Aug 22nd at the Oncology unit at Royal Marsden. I have felt so much better this week.

But why should my doctor change my drugs that were rescribed to me BY AN EXPERT!!!

The main people to point the finger at are those who want free prescriptions for cheap over the counter drugs who are bleeding the NHS dry.

The recent consultation will be putting a stop to this in most case - don't expect you Minor Ailments Services / Care at The Chemist Services to continue in the same way either.

I had my medication swapped to a generic but this was instigated by the nhs area where I live. However I tried the generic but it gave me hallucinations at night so they swapped me back once I told them. My pharmacy said they couldn’t get my prescription at a later date so I searched around and found a pharmacy that gets my medication in for me.

GP’s don’t have a choice - they can no longer afford to fund all the prescriptions so need to use cheaper alternatives.

Who do they think they are?

I'm sorry for your situation OP, I truly am. But you lost my sympathy with the above statement

You need to go in and tell your GP that you are not switching drugs.

My DF is on lots of medication to prevent him having another stroke and the GP tried to change him to cheaper prescriptions. He went in and basically told them that they weren't changing his prescriptions. He's still on the same medication and they haven't tried to change it again.

Please stand your ground.

You need to go in and tell your GP that you are not switching drugs.

That's not going to work if it is a CCG decision. The GP cannot override it.

We need more information to give constructive advice.

@Bombardier25966 That's how it worked with my DF. He just spoke to the GO about it and has stayed on the same medications.

@ginandtonicformeplease - Anti-epileptics are a special case: they have to be prescribed by brand because there are differences in the amounts of drug you get in your blood over the period of time between doses for the different versions. There are a few other examples like this but not very many, so it's usually safe to change from a branded to a generic product.

We don't know what the OP's medication is, so we don't know whether it's generic substitution or replacement with a different drug by the GP, although the latter would be extraordinary.

Brand names and generic equivalents ARE the same!

www.fda.gov/drugs/resourcesforyou/consumers/buyingusingmedicinesafely/genericdrugs/ucm167991.htm

They are not the same if it's a different brand name. People are very ignorant about this issue. Thinking that a packet of 23p Asda paracetamol is not as good as a £1.20 branded pack is just not correct. The active ingredient, i.e. The medicine bit, has to be identical!

@crazycatgal I'm glad your father had that experience. But to tell someone else to do it without understanding their particular situation is irresponsible. "Standing your ground" over something that is beyond your GPs control is only going to damage your relationship with them. It's not going to magically get you the drugs you want.

Hopefully the OP will come back and tell us what medication it is they need, and what they have been offered as an alternative.

@Bombardier25966 Telling someone to stand their ground with their GP is not irresponsible, I'm not telling the OP to stop taking her prescriptions am I.

The GP is most people's first point of contact. In a lot of cases the GPs are the ones changing prescriptions. It makes sense to go in and speak to them first.

I can't imagine that a GP would just change the medication so it must be a generic substitution which should be exactly the same. The generic company has to do tests to prove that they are equivalent. And even if you weren't exempt from charges you could get a pre pay certificate, so I don't understand that bit.
OP, come back and give us more information.

if you can't get an exemption due to cancer then look at getting a prepay cert £30 a quarter. Your pharmacist should have pointed this out to you as a regular

In a lot of cases the GPs are the ones changing prescriptions. It makes sense to go in and speak to them first.

Evidence of your lot of cases please? Is this based on knowledge of CCG prescribing guidelines or something else?

No one has suggested not going to see their GP. But going in and getting arsey, "stand your ground", is not the attitude to take. That just gets you marked out as bullish and difficult.

DH has the opposite problem. Happy to take a cheaper medicine but GP won't do it without a letter from the consultant - it was the consultant who suggested it in the first place, but apparently hasn't let our GP know.

@Bombardier25966 You can be polite and assertive at the same time. Not quite sure where I recommended 'getting arsey.' I was recommending going in and standing your ground because that's what worked for my DF.

crazycatgal - there is no reason in most cases for the NHS to pay high branded prices when much more cost effective products are available.

Those people standing their ground because they want the brand just because they have always had it should be made to pay the difference.

crazycatgal - I’d be interested to know why your Father was unwilling to change?

**Who do they think they are?

I'm sorry for your situation OP, I truly am. But you lost my sympathy with the above statement**

^I agree

PeterPiperPickedSeaShells
Who do they think they are?

I'm sorry for your situation OP, I truly am. But you lost my sympathy with the above statement

Yes - Who do they think they are- changing a prescription from a Neurologist who is the best in his field. GP's do NOT have the same experience nor the qualifications of a Neurologist from Kings.

But I thank you Peter for your concern.
I hope one day you never have a brain tumour. And get some one change your medication when you have had months of horrendous side effects.

OP - are you going to tell us the medication or are we just wasting our time?

But you aren't going to answer the questions? There may be people here who can help you

@GoatYoga The GP wanted to change some of his medications and take him off a couple of things that he has been told that he needs. He had already had a stroke at 41 and his DM died from a stroke in her late 40s. I don't blame him for not accepting these changes. I can't comment more specifically because I don't know the names of all of the different medications.

The NHS spends more than £569 million every year for medicines that can be bought without a prescription. This is the consultation that I think GoatYoga was referencing upthread.
www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/otc-consutlation-report-of-findings.pdf

crazycatgal - without knowing more it isn’t possible to comment. The important thing with medication switches is if the product is the same drug with a different manufacturer, or is it a different drug. We have no idea with the OP so it isn’t possible to help.