So how much does UTI antibiotics for Dad cost the NHS?

[NewspaperTaxis]

Dad is in his 90s and a common problem for folk that age seems to be urinary tract infections (UTIs). We ward it off with Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice and regular soaking in water with a bit of disinfectant in it. But sometimes they occur - maybe three times a year and we get antibiotics to cure it. He goes from being dithery and unresponsive to back on it - sometimes very quickly.

One time we struggled to give him the capsules to to his poor swallow, as he was so out of it. We asked for this one in liquid form but the doctor said, we don't do this as for that one in liquid form it's around £400! Fair enough. But It got me thinking - medication is free for us, but how much would regular antibiotics cost the GP or NHS?

Only sometimes do I wonder if there's a finite pot that the elderly can draw on for the year, or in a lifetime, and once that's finished the drawbridge comes up. He has regular other medication too that is unavoidable.

It it sometimes better to pay for meds oneself if they're available for sale in Boots etc?

In my area they stopped prescribing gluten free products about 7 years ago, but it’s very expensive, 8 loaves of bread cost about £30!

Really? Well I think we'll go easy on the gluten-free bread from now on! That does sound like a bad deal, they sell for £3 in the Co-op!

How much does D-Mannose cost, gegs73? Is it available over the counter or only via prescription?

We do shell out for other things like anti-constipation pills without getting a prescription - again, given it's £1.5K a week for nursing home fees it seems rude not to.

The powder you can find for about £10 on Amazon usually

I'm a dispenser. Generally antibiotics are cheap in pill form. Liquid anything is expensive.

Some drugs cost us £1 and others £500. We do get a dispensing fee and are reimbursed for the cost of the drug but it's a standard amount and sometimes less than what we paid for it.

We don't keep the prescription charge as we have to give these to the NHS monthly.

Thanks everyone, I got some of the D-Mannose at Holland & Barrett albeit it's in powder form and around £20.

I work as a HCP it's rarer to dispense liquids to adults as it's much more expensive even in confused adults. You can open the capsules put it in yoghurt , pudding we do that all the time ask your pharmacist if it's safe to do so with your father's medication . I even crush medications and mix them for peg feeds. You don't need liquid preparations in most cases.