To think NHS Prescriptions are extortionate

[Leobynature]

I am not sure what response I am looking for. Myself and 1 year old have been sick all week with flu. I have developed a chest infection and DD has had breathing problems. After a much appreciated GP visit I was pleased I was given a prescription for antibiotics, pain medication and an inhaler. I was advised to buy ibuprofen and paracetamol for DD as the ‘NHS do not give prescription for calpol’. I was absolutely astonished that this came to over £35! This is a lot from our budget. I don’t think I could afford to be sick again. I don’t know how some families with repeat prescriptions manage it. So annoyed as the pain medication is not even that strong and I could have just ‘overdosed’ on 49p over the counter medication. £9 per med is extortionate

I get my heart, ms and thyroid meds free, for which I am immensely grateful to people like you.

Thank you 🌹

What I don't understand is that all my meds are free for life because I have an underactive thyroid, but my sister struggles to pay for her prescription for asthma inhalers and frequently gets unwell without them. The exception rules make no sense.
My neighbour will rant at you for hours about this. And she's the one with the free prescription due to her thyroid too! She gets that her thyroid makes her more prone to things, but balks that she can get prescriptions for free for things with no link to thyroid issues where asthma sufferers have to keep forking out in order to breathe.

I can’t believe how little people know about medical costs in this country.

I wonder what people would do if they were charged a consultation fee, prescription writing fee, dispensing fee and then had to actually pay for the cost of medications which are much much more than £9. As in hundreds more in some cases.

Even things like dressings as a previous poster mentioned cost £££ to buy in, plus the expertise, training costs, CPD costs, salary costs and time of the nurse checking and redressing the wound which presumably you did not have to pay for. £9 for an appointment that involved someone highly qualified to examine and redress a wound is IMO very cheap and worth every penny.

People need to educate themselves on how to help the NHS before we loose it.

A fair bit of our taxes and insurance goes on the NHS so frankly I couldn’t care less if others in countries who don’t pay several ££££ a year have to pay for smears etc.

I think for the average family prescriptions are now getting too expensive if you end up with more than one family member ill or the need for several prescriptions in one month.

£9 for a prescription IS a lot of money for some. In fact a £3 alternative is out of reach for some! That could be a meal for some people.

I've just had 2x treatments on the NHS which would cost circa of £600k if I lived in the USA. Am I grateful? Totally. I'm also 'entitled' to free prescriptions because one of my conditions - I don't think I should be allowed to have free prescription for things that aren't related .. but I'm never allowed to pay.

We are so bloody lucky

The cost of an inhaler in the US is a disgrace.

I buy them when I'm abroad for around €4.

I understand that the prescription charges are a lot if you are on a low income or on benefits.

However, they aren't a patch on the real cost of the drugs. I was once admitted to a private hospital for surgery funded by an insurance scheme which DH's employer provided. The only thing I had to pay for myself was a course of antibiotics on discharge. It was £50 if I recall correctly. That was one drug.

In light of the actual costs, £9 per item often really isn't too bad. That said though, if you don't have it then you don't, even though it is not the complete cost.

Buying generic versions of paracetamol and ibuprofen instead of the branded versions will save you a lot. They cost pence rather than £££s and so way less than the prescription charge.

I am extremely grateful every month that I qualify for free prescriptions. I still buy my own paracetamol and ibuprofen though.

As many people have said, if you knew the actual cost of many medications you'd realise what a bargain the NHS has been.

If you're going to have to get medications regularly then the NHS prepayment scheme is currently the most cost-effective way to do it.

We also have assorted TENs machines, clinically approved neck, back, knee and wrist supports, portable nebulisers and other bits of kit in this household purchased via Boots/Superdrug etc which have proved invaluable. That's quite apart from the usual drawer of Vicks, Menthol crystals, ibuprofen, paracetamol, plasters, Germolene, TCP, cough mixture, antacids, and anti-histamines.

We're all going to have to get used to looking after our own health a LOT more in the next 5 years. That might mean changing our diets, exercising more within our capacity, or just putting up with the discomfort and pain. For lots of people learning to wash their hands properly with actual soap and dispose of tissues correctly, especially this time of year, might help too....

It's not like we weren't warned but many people are still dismissing it as scaremongering. It's my friends with REALLY chronic conditions (MS, Parkinson's, Diabetes, to name a few) or kids with chronic conditions that I feel most sorry for.

Btw if you ever holiday in Greece inhalers can be brought over the counter in pharmacies and they’e around €2.50

I'm in Scotland now and, even here, we dont get things like Paracetamol on prescription anymore. This has happened in the last couple of years and rightly so. When I lived in England, I had a prepayment certificate. Just one of my scripts, for lidocaine infused patches, costs more than £75 so I'm glad I didnt have to pay the full cost.

Medications must cost the NHS a fortune so I think paying a smallish charge allowing some costs to be recovered is pretty good. I read somewhere that more than 90% of scripts are dispensed free of charge any way.

Why do Scotland and Wales not pay for prescriptions? I don't get that at all

And I guess if you are on benefits you would often qualify for free prescriptions?

I issue prescriptions for a living and honestly as other people have said you have no idea. A ppc is cheap so get one of those if you have regular medication.

Otc medications are being stopped - everyone (in England at least) eventually will not be prescribed paracetamol, hay fever tabs, ibuprofen, dry skin cream; in fact anything that is available to buy without a prescription. These are described as ‘non essential’

Don’t get me started on the amount of times
I’ve refused paracetamol to a 60 year old who then has a tantrum ‘I’ve worked all my life and paid my taxes’ well guess what Sandra I’ve worked all my life and paid taxes and I will NEVER get paracetamol on prescription. general
Healthcare is like any other expense same as shampoo, plasters and antiseptic cream. I buy these things as part of my weekly shop. I know paracetamol can be expensive If you are taking 8 every day. If this is the case (or are housebound) then it is issued as 224 a month. If it is not as regular then buy it.

The stories I could tell you would make your toes curl

You pay £9 whether the cost is 5, 9 or 99 £. That s the point.
Antibiotics are often £20 or more
Other meds 100 or 200.
Pharmacist usually tells you if OTC version is cheaper.

Why are you paying for dd's prescriptions? It's free for children.

Get a prepayment card I use to get free prescriptions but I’ve had my universal credit stopped I had to find £45 to pay for my medication and I can’t not get it because I need it.

I work for a uk wide company but earn less than my English colleagues because I pay higher taxes in Scotland. I feel I get my money's worth though - my colleagues have it much worse.

And do give over if he hadn’t had to wait for his cancer treatment, hadn’t had the procedure fucked up by the NHS he wouldn’t be needing to be treated 3 times a week at huge expense. He is a higher tax payer who has never abused his health with smoking , food or alcohol.Must have the thinnest envelope in the practise as never visits the gp.

He shouldn’t be grateful for anything, just angry. He has more than paid his way and has been treated like shit. Will now be going private and paying private health insurance as of this month.

@OhLookHeKickedTheBall that's me and my sisters conversation. I've been asthmatic all my life and pay for my meds, but use a PPC for c£10 a month (which I think is an absolute bargain tbh) but since my sister has been diagnosed with a thyroid condition she gets all her prescriptions free and she says it doesn't make sense to her to get everything free (not just thyroid meds) yet I pay for medication I quite literally can't live without

Ho hum though, it is what it is and I am so glad for the PPC and that I can afford it as without meds I would be so so unwell. Even with the meds I take I end up with frequent chest infections and occasional hospital admissions, but if I didnt have meds /free nhs/PPC I couldn't afford private treatment and would be v v v poorly

I honestly don't know how ppl in USA etc manage if they are ill.

I feel v lucky with what we have here in the UK

Had you been in Ireland you would have paid €60 just to see the doctor to get the prescription for an extra €10 and then also paid for the meds!! So probably over €100

You are everything that is wrong with modern society

@Dontsweatthelittlestuff How do you get to decide (P2) that the OP didn't need antibiotics she was examined by a GP and they used their medical training and experience to decide that she did, but you a cat owner from God Know Where has decided based on line information that she didn't
My experience is vets over prescribe un-necessary meds not GPs

Not all prescribed drugs are expensive

My warfarin would cost me £3 in US (I just checked).

The prepaid certificate is the way to go.

Can someone pls explain the supply chain of how prescription medication costs so much? If (for example) paracetamol is 30p a pack in Tesco how come it costs the nhs so much more? Think a previous poster said it costs nhs £35! Would have thought nhs negotiations would have mega economies of scale involved to bring the costs down.
Be nice in ur responses, I don't know much about the nhs and yes do agree we should buy over the counter stuff to help ourselves rather than traipse to gp surgery.

Just one of the many drugs I take every month is £98 per month. All told I am on about £350 of meds monthly plus medical oxygen. £9 per item s a bargain where some drugs are prescribed. The charge takes in to consideration the cost of the higher and lower priced items and creates a general mid range figure.