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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder how people afford prescription charges?

113 replies

fuckedandbombed · 04/07/2021 17:59

I live alone and work full time but money is tight for now.

I have been on antidepressants for a couple of years so was costing me the £10 a month charge.

Recently my gp has bit me on blood pressure tablets and vitamin b12 as well

I've left it to get the prescription because I simply can't afford £30 a month .

I need the meds , but just can't afford them . Is there any alternative to paying £30 a month ?

OP posts:
hellywelly3 · 04/07/2021 18:42

Definitely get pre paid costs about £11 a month used to do it when I was on a couple of things a month

WantingToWonder · 04/07/2021 18:53

Yep. Prepay certificate or get Epilepsy Grin

FangsForTheMemory · 04/07/2021 18:59

The prepayment certificate pays for itself if you have just one prescription each month. Two months after I first got mine, I had an asthma episode that meant I had 8 or 10 prescriptions in a fortnight. I would literally not have been able to afford that.

VettiyaIruken · 04/07/2021 20:02

Like everyone else has said, a prepayment on monthly direct debit will get you all those prescriptions for just over £10, so the cost will be no different to what you were paying for one.
Get signed up.

Gladiolys · 04/07/2021 20:47

Bloody hell, I had no idea this was a thing. Are prescriptions not free on the NHS?!

MaskingForIt · 04/07/2021 20:51

@Gladiolys

Bloody hell, I had no idea this was a thing. Are prescriptions not free on the NHS?!
They are in Wales (and Scotland?) but not in England.
WhenISnappedAndFarted · 04/07/2021 20:52

I'm on antidepressants and multiple inhalers a month for asthma and the only way I can afford it is a prepayment certificate

Gladiolys · 04/07/2021 20:52

Ah - I’m in Scotland. Poor England, you’re getting a rough deal Sad

warmfluffytowels · 04/07/2021 20:52

@Gladiolys

Bloody hell, I had no idea this was a thing. Are prescriptions not free on the NHS?!
Not in England, no. They haven't been for years now.

I agree with others - get a pre-payment certificate, you'll save more than 50%.

Luzina · 04/07/2021 20:53

I have a medical exemption so get free prescriptions. I didn’t realise you had to pay for each item?!

MarkRuffaloCrumble · 04/07/2021 20:55

The B12 might be injections rather than tablets as some people have trouble absorbing it via the stomach lining.

If that’s the case OP I take sublingual B12 which does the same job as the injections but much less painfully! You can get mega high strength ones from Jarrow on Amazon so don’t need to take them everyday.

eeyore228 · 04/07/2021 20:56

@MouldyPotato is your ‘get pregnant’ for a years worth of free prescriptions for real? Hmm. I would imagine that if OP is struggling with £30 a month the costs of a child might just be a bit more!

Gladimnotcampinginthisweather · 04/07/2021 20:56

People on low incomes do not automatically get free prescriptions. You need to check eligibility.
Prepay is the best answer.

Christmasfairy2020 · 04/07/2021 20:56

Pre payment over 12 months. 10 quid monthly and covers everything

iklboo · 04/07/2021 21:01

I get 6 prescriptions a month, which would be around £60. The £10.85 a month prepay is worth every penny. The increases when the prescription charges go up are negligible too.

MouldyPotato · 04/07/2021 21:03

@eeyore228 it was an answer to the title.

To wonder how people afford prescription charges?

I was thinking of what exemptions there were and that was the only one I could think of.

LouScot · 04/07/2021 21:03

Someone queried earlier whether they were free in Scotland as well as in Wales - yes they are, Wales copied us Grin. In Al seriousness, I well remember being in my first job and having to decide which prescription to get when given several from the GP, so I'm very grateful that we don't pay for them now.

eeyore228 · 04/07/2021 21:06

@MouldyPotato you had mentioned pre-payment so I wondered if it was a suggestion because I assumed midwives would have talked about maternity exemptions. I've obviously read it wrong! Smile

MouldyPotato · 04/07/2021 21:08

@eeyore228 my fault for poor formatting and not making it clear Smile

I hope no one gets pregnant just to get free prescriptions.

sugarapplelane · 04/07/2021 21:09

As others have said - get a prepayment certificate. It's saved me a fortune over the years

RuthW · 04/07/2021 21:16

As everyone has said. If you have 12 prescriptions per year a prepayment certificate is worth it.

Baker0104 · 04/07/2021 21:17

Pre payment certificate was a life saver for us before I fell pregnant. Once my maternity exemption is up I'll be taking it out again

FindingMeno · 04/07/2021 21:19

I hear you.
I decide what I do and don't need. Don't have some, and delay others.