To think the NHS medical exemption is not very fair?

[user87382294757]

DH has crohns disease. Needs regular prescriptions and bloods, has an IBD nurse etc.

Advised some conditions can exempt you from prescription charges and checked the list. It says-

You can get all your NHS prescriptions free if you have a valid medical exemption certificate because you have:
• a permanent fistula (for example, caecostomy, colostomy, laryngos-tomy or ileostomy) which needs
continuous surgical dressing or an appliance;
• a form of hypoadrenalism (for example, Addison’s Disease) for which specific substitution therapy is
essential;
• diabetes insipidus and other forms of hypopituitarism;
• diabetes mellitus, except where treatment is by diet alone;
• hypoparathyroidism;
• myasthenia gravis;
• myxoedema (that is, hypothyroidism which needs thyroid hormone replacement);
• epilepsy which needs continuous anticonvulsive therapy;
• a continuing physical disability which means you cannot go out without the help of another person; or
• cancer and are undergoing treatment for:
– cancer;
– the effects of cancer; or,
– the effects of cancer treatment.

Why these conditions and not others? It seems unfair that someone with diabetes type 2 (which is often self induced through diet and lack of exercise) can get these for free and others with other chronic illnesses cannot?

I'm cross that it seems a selective few illness have been given more priority than others for this. AIBU?

@Totaldogsbody agree 100% with you on that my trust doesn't prescribe paracetamol or ibuprofen or anything cheaper than the cost of a prescription really which is how it should be!

foodologist coeliacs do not get free prescriptions or money off gf food so your niece is getting those benefits for some other reason .

It does seem odd, I get free prescriptions because I have an underactive thyroid but DS doesn't and he has Crohn's Disease which is more serious. However he has treatment at hospital every 6 weeks and we were told a few years ago that this costs £12k per annum so it makes his £10 a month prepayment certificate seem quite affordable.

I saw this and thought of y'all ...

My son has cystic fibrosis and not a mild variety. Until he also developed cystic fibrosis related diabetes, he was paying for all his prescriptions because he works full time. And people with cf need a LOT of meds.

The list needs updating urgently but parliament ignore it as low priority. Whichever the government. Even when Gordon Brown was PM and he has a kid with CF! (No problem affording l the prescription charges there so no problem I guess?!)?

@Mallowfairy as things stand they won't be entitled to free prescriptions at 18 either unless they have diabetes or a porta cath ... or something else un-related to cf and they qualify.

It's crap I have RA which is not exempt and have had many regular meds for the past 20yrs and for the first couple of years nobody told me about prepayment certs
Weirdly I now have two injectable meds and these come directly by delivery and direct prescription (by 2 different companies just to be difficult) and I don't have to pay for these or use a PPC, they just deliver them. I have no idea why and didn't know until they started delivering them.

@jellyjellabi but that also applies to other diseases not exempt
"Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory condition, which is associated with an increased risk of comorbidity from other diseases. RA disease severity is a major predictor of development of cardiovascular disease, serious infections and malignant lymphoma. This reflects the role of chronic inflammation in the underlying pathology."

@RoyEastmannKodak does he have a prepayment certificate? If not he will save a fortune if he gets one!

@bubblegumunicorn yes he did. Doesn't need one now as has CF-related diabetes so it's all free. Go figure?!

My eldest dd is entitled to free prescriptions now. Not because she has cf related diabetes but because she is on the transplant list and claiming benefits as she is too ill to work 😥

I had to get a private prescription for antibiotics a few months ago

Fair enough...but i went to the chemist thinking this is going to cost me a fortune

£2.65

I know that’s nothing to do with free prescriptions and that the idea is that some people may pay a bit more and some a bit less so its ‘fair’

But i was surprised

Trouble is who decides what constitutes being added for the PPC? The NHS doesn't have any money - we all need to be contributing financially to our healthcare if we want to keep the nhs in this country.

@Mallowfairy I know it's not done on Mumsnet but I'm sending you (((((hugs)))) and lots of them, from one cf mum to another

Not really same issue and I admit not a major concern, something I was just a little surprised about, my ds is 16 and had just been awarded a apprenticeship, which he has just started, 17 end of aug, according to new educational laws needs to be in full time education until 18 and apprenticeship is still classed as full time education, needed a prescription, but according to nhs, apprentiships regardless of age do not qualify you for free prescriptions.

I'm sorry but I just had to reply to your comment which is factually incorrect based on your assumptions of the disease due to your experiences with just your mums colitis and relatives IBD. IBS, ulcerative colitis and crohn's are related but management and treatment can differ a lot. Crohns can be and usually is more severe and difficult to treat than ulcerative colitis or IBS.

My partner has severe active crohn's like the ops Oh and unlike some colitis sufferers who can manage with a restricted diet, my partner has and probably will for the foreseeable future need a lot of medication to keep her disease under control. In the 10 years since she has been diagnosed she has been on and off prednisolone with the longest continuous run being over 12 months currently and counting. Shes also treated as an outpatient every 4 weeks to be infused with infliximab, antihistamines and more steroids. Her consultant appointment on Wednesday this week had him double her dose of infliximab to 10mg per kilo bodyweight to try and bring her disease under control while staying on prednisolone and possibly adding methotrexate in combination depending on her blood markers in 4 weeks time. She is also on a polymeric diet meaning she cant eat any solid food just medical shakes and water. She also has to have regular iron infusions, vitamin d and other supplements, antihistamines and migraine.tablets.

She's lost her job as a department manager at a popular supermarket due to her illness and apart from receiving pip shes told she doesnt qualify for any benefits as I'm working so shes dependant on me to support her. With two kids to support aswell as a mortgage to pay and bill's, I'm sure you'll agree £50 a week off pip doesnt pay for a lot and I also work for the nhs so after 7 years of pay freezes my wage is nothing special. Just over the benefit threshold actually yet after Ive paid tax and paid for everything those on benefits get "entitlement" to were alot worse off.

The whole system is a mess but back to being on point just because one person you know manages colitis well with a controlled diet doesnt mean it's the same for all those within this group of disease sufferers. My partner has been on medication for 10 years now and prob will be for a long time to come, her condition causes her other rheumatoid problems like joint pains, anaemia due to blood loss on a daily basis etc. That's not to mention the short term side effects from all the meds shes on like migraines. Who knows what the long term implications are going to be due to cytotoxicity etc..

I do feel for the OP as were in a similar situation and sometimes it gets very difficult to accept things as they are especially when you see people abusing the system meaning people who need genuine help cant access it due to arbitrary rules set decades ago or even more recently by people who dont have a clue. I'm sorry it's not a personal dig at you so sorry if I've offended in any way but your comment about it being easily controlled by diet alone is far from the truth. Just want to put this out there so others know living with crohns is not easy and my partner faces issues daily as do many other sufferers of the disease. My partner almost lost her life 11 years ago before she was diagnosed due to sepsis following a particularly bad flare up. Not saying she should be more entitled than anyone else suffering from other diseases or disorders but crohns is definitely a longterm disease that for some sufferers doesnt go away and makes life extremely difficult on a daily basis. Personally I think the rules should look at affordability and impact of the disease rather than to be a blanket rule covering some and not others. There are to many people burdening the system by abusing the rules and there are also lots that could afford to pay but dont which is unfair on those that need the help.

New to this forum thought replying to a post would quote it but obviously not. My post was in response to teddybear45's comments about colitis and benefits

Yes I forgot about the costs if the elemental drinks etc as Uzzyp mentions, when they can't tolerate any food at all. Also i think they used to prescribe lots of those in bulk- I remember which was not too bad but then they changed the rules on that also and one of the Ensure drinks is about £3.50 (just for one) if you buy it separately. On the comment on Humira that has come off patent now. (someone commented we were having that and is expensive) so more available to autoimmune conditions like RA and Chrohns. I agree it can be totally life limiting- we in just the same position as the PP above in terms of being just over the limit. The thing is if you don't manage it with the meds it just gets worse and needs hospital admissions and surgery which costs a fortune. We have avoided that so far but I guess if he does and gets a stoma at least that means he would qualify

So a PP felt colitis can be managed just with diet. Maybe some, but gosh that shows how ignorant people can be about the severity of IBD. Maybe they confused it is IBS perhaps.

Quite ironic you complaining about ignorance after your comments about diabetes really!

People only ever compare themselves with those they think better off than themselves. Imagine being in a country where access to healthcare is all but impossible or where, like America, all healthcare is hugely expensive and a cancer diagnosis means, to pay for care, you lose your house and endanger your family’s wellbeing.

Nine quid a month is nothing for access to drugs which can cost thousands of pounds a year.

A change in the rules would be an opportunity for those in power to change things as they, not you, wished. You might get lobby groups and minority voices prioritised over your own preferences. You would almost certainly be worse off than you are now.

As a rule, research widely and independently, and you will almost always find that you are better off than you think you are. Listen to the whingeing of the masses and you will get a totally inaccurate view of your circumstances. It is beyond belief that we live in one of the richest, most free and privileged countries in the world and that the current perception of our lot is that of ‘austerity’. Try telling that to someone in Somalia.

@EleanorOalike

I also get cross with the automatic assumption that T2D is caused by lifestyle choices. When Dh was diagnosed, his consultant was clear that the reason he developed it was due to thyroid issues (which had led to a partial removal of the thyroid).

As another pp said, sometimes it isn't clear whether some conditions are linked which is probably why free prescriptions are given for all health issues if you have a qualifying condition.
Personally, I believe that all prescribed medicine should be free as I have also heard it costs more to administer the current system than would be lost by making them all free. I also think there should be a general tightening up of prescribing generally. Overuse of antibiotics is a huge issue and unless new ones are discovered and developed, we are in trouble. Maybe there should be some restrictions on how repeat prescriptions are administered.

I’ll just tell my 8 stone, size 8 , teetotal MIL that her type 2 diabetes is her own fault!
You do know that there is some evidence that Crohn’s disease is affected by diet on childhood, make sure you tell your pils next time you see them..

I’ve always wondered this. I have had Myasthenia Gravis for 23 years and since diagnosis have had free prescriptions. I’ve always wondered why these. I get a regular prescription but so do lots of people with other illnesses.

I have had Myasthenia Gravis for 23 years and since diagnosis have had free prescriptions. I’ve always wondered why these. I get a regular prescription but so do lots of people with other illnesses.

You are just "lucky" that there was a treatment for it when the list was made about 50 years ago. It's the same with everything else on this list. People with type 2 diabetes are on the list as their disease as the same name as type 1 diabetes which was treated with insulin There is not other logic or judgement so a bit daft that people are still arguing about whose disease is worse or which diseases are self inflicted etc.