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Original poster

The myth of one year hrt prescriptions

16 replies

marlowe5 · 15/02/2022 13:11

Has anyone managed to secure this? I have a friend locally whose doctor has given her a years script so she will just have to pay once. My doctor on the other hand will not and made excuses today about hrt 'not being a long term medication' and that it was not appropriate to give a years script. My understanding was that we were now entitled to this. Does anyone have any suggestions? I tried to complain and she said it was expensive and it was not possible for her to do a script for that length. It seems odd that a surgery in the same town will do... I'm not sure if next steps on this short of moving surgery which seems a bit of a pain.

OP posts:
doodleygirl · 15/02/2022 13:14

Im interested in the answer to this question as well. I changed my GP about a year ago due to a house move. My old GP gave me a prescription for 6 months, new GP gives 1 box. Drives me mad.

CorrBlimeyGG · 15/02/2022 13:24

You're not entitled to it, but there is a recommendation to move towards annual prescribing where a patient is settled on a particular HRT. Local CCGs and surgeries are still free to make their own policy though.

Chewbecca · 15/02/2022 13:25

Oh, you’ve just reminded me. I ordered some last week and added a note to say is it possible to issue 12m supply in one prescription. I collected it last week and it was my usual 2 bottles - I forgot I made that note! It was ignored then. I will try again next month!

JinglingHellsBells · 15/02/2022 14:03

@marlowe5

Has anyone managed to secure this? I have a friend locally whose doctor has given her a years script so she will just have to pay once. My doctor on the other hand will not and made excuses today about hrt 'not being a long term medication' and that it was not appropriate to give a years script. My understanding was that we were now entitled to this. Does anyone have any suggestions? I tried to complain and she said it was expensive and it was not possible for her to do a script for that length. It seems odd that a surgery in the same town will do... I'm not sure if next steps on this short of moving surgery which seems a bit of a pain.
Are you possibly confusing two separate issues here?

The change to the prescription price for HRT will mean (to my knowledge) that women will pay an annual fee for their HRT. That has not yet been implemented. It's not yet active.

That doesn't mean however that a dr can prescribe 12 months all at once.

Legally, medicines are reviewed at least once every 12 months. Many drs where HRT is prescribed like to do a 6-month review, to check BP and anything else.

So, although there may (in time) be a single, one-off payment for a year of HRT, that isn't the same as saying a dr will give 12 months all at once on a single prescription.

Ironingoutthecreases · 15/02/2022 20:30

I read recently, from a campaigner, that the annual one off prescription charge for HRT may be implemented around April 2022.

Original poster
marlowe5 · 16/02/2022 07:38

@Ironingoutthecreases

I read recently, from a campaigner, that the annual one off prescription charge for HRT may be implemented around April 2022.
Ah thank you. Maybe I'm confusing two issues then but I am not keen to be paying for lots of scripts when it seems there could be an annual charge. To my knowledge my friend has one prescription for a year that she paid one prescription charge for. I do understand that there is a review from the go though my annual one was simple 'please take your own blood pressure and send it in to us' and filling in a questionnaire. There has not been anything for a year and a half that has meant any change to my prescription.
OP posts:
Livelifeinthebuslane · 16/02/2022 08:12

I have to get mine monthly and any calls and notes requesting more are ignored. One month during Covid I failed to get the utrogestan at all because my DM was having a crisis, the pharmacy had short hours and long queues and it takes 30 mins to get through to the doctors on the phone. I can't see how it's a good use of anyone's time, I don't expect a year but quarterly would be good. I've been on it for over a year.

HollyBollyBooBoo · 16/02/2022 08:16

Interesting, I was given a 3 month trial so I wonder the length of prescription my GP will give when I go back at the end of it.

JinglingHellsBells · 16/02/2022 08:19

I'm prepared to be shot down here Grin but I don't actually think it's fair for women to get free HRT ( almost free) when women not on HRT are having to pay for many other types of medication, (for menopause or other illnesses.) Also, men don't get free prescriptions for their health issues.

Everyone gets free prescriptions at 60, (if through an NHS dr) and people on benefits, or who qualify in other ways, get free prescriptions. The cost to the tax payer is probably very small, as only 10% of women use HRT, very few will use it beyond 60 (when it is free anyway.)

AwkwardSquad · 16/02/2022 08:27

Mine is issued one dispenser of gel at a time too, which is annoying as I use 2.5 pumps per day so one doesn’t last a month. A recent note just asking for two dispensers at a time was ignored - but I suspect that this is a fault of the systmonline setup rather than the practice, as it’s happened before. I’m not sure they actually see the notes…?

I have a yearly prescription pre-pay certificate so it’s not so much the cost, it’s the inconvenience for me.

AwkwardSquad · 16/02/2022 08:30

Got to say it’s mild inconvenience though! Using systmonline and having the prescriptions sent direct to my nominated pharmacy to collect when ready is much less inconvenient than the previous way of phoning the practice, shlepping round to collect the script, taking to pharmacy and waiting for prescription to be made up.

ChickenStripper · 16/02/2022 11:04

Someone at my GP practice told my H that the reason they give meds only for one month at a time - all meds - is that they get paid per script they issue. I have no idea if this is true or not. We ended up at this GP due to a house move and for some reason I am lucky and still get my meds on a two monthly basis - except for my Oestrogel which I have to separately request monthly. When I queried this I was told it was because "some women don't take their HRT properly and they want to correct this ".....what a load of nonsense. I was actually speechless.

JinglingHellsBells · 16/02/2022 11:51

Pharmacies get paid per script. Not sure about surgeries.

ihatesoaps · 16/02/2022 12:11

My GP gives me 3-6 months....it depends which dr signs the prescription as to how many months I get!

iklboo · 16/02/2022 12:16

I get three months' prescriptions at a time. I get the pre-pay NHS card (though it's electronic now) which is well worth the £10 odd a month, especially as I have other meds as well.

Livelifeinthebuslane · 16/02/2022 12:55

I suspect that this is a fault of the systmonline setup rather than the practice, as it’s happened before. I’m not sure they actually see the notes

Yes apparently the notes are in very small text when they come through in SystmOne and difficult to read, although mine's not on repeat so I have to type in the name of what I want and put the request for more than a month at a time before utrogestan. I think it's that the pharmacist doesn't have the authority to change it though without it being passed through a GP.

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