NHS cutting back on prescriptions?

[Countdown]

Paul Dishman said:

shed driver said:

One simple way to save money on prescriptions is to revisit the and rewrite the exemptions list.

Currently diabetics, patients with thyroid disorders and many others get all their script items for free. If the free items were just for those items directly connected to the primary exemption reason then there must be some savings? For example a diabetic gets insulin or other medication free as it is essential. They will also get non-related items free also - pain killers for a bad back, antihistamines for hay fever.

I can't see any reasonable person objecting.

SD.

How would that be policed?

I think Shed Driver means they would pay for the non-related items (rather than get them free AS WELL as the diabetes medecines).....

Policing? Simple - the Exemption card would say "Diabetes medecine only"...would that not work?

My mum's elder sister is over 100+. She lives at home with her daughter and son-in-law but the amount of support the NHS provides in terms of medication and care is staggering. It must be the only organisation where being successful carries extra costs....

[Paul Dishman]

Countdown said:

I think Shed Driver means they would pay for the non-related items (rather than get them free AS WELL as the diabetes medecines).....

Policing? Simple - the Exemption card would say "Diabetes medecine only"...would that not work?

...

No. It'd be a lot of aggravation for the pharmacy staff with no reward apart from the danger of assault. How would you determine exemption when, for example, if a diabetic patient has been another drug such as an ACE inhibitor to prevent long term consequences of diabetes or if he'd been prescribed the same drug because he'd developed hypertension

[Paul Dishman]

Plymo said:

Yep, a woman next door to us was going on about how she "kicked off" at the chemist because she was given the unbranded version of calpol for her child...

Of course, its exactly the same stuff but 1/4 of the price.
She is exempt from prescription charges.

Its quicker to just buy it and probably cheaper if you factor in petrol/bus fare

"kicked off"? I've had charming customers like that. One of the benefits of owning your pharmacy was that unlike a multiple there was no need to tolerate bad behaviour, so handing the prescription back and suggesting they try elsewhere as they were no longer welcome

[Countdown]

Paul Dishman said:

Countdown said:

I think Shed Driver means they would pay for the non-related items (rather than get them free AS WELL as the diabetes medecines).....

Policing? Simple - the Exemption card would say "Diabetes medecine only"...would that not work?

...

No. It'd be a lot of aggravation for the pharmacy staff with no reward apart from the danger of assault. How would you determine exemption when, for example, if a diabetic patient has been another drug such as an ACE inhibitor to prevent long term consequences of diabetes or if he'd been prescribed the same drug because he'd developed hypertension

Shows my lack of understanding

How about the prescription says "Diabetes related" or "non diabetes related"?

[Aston Traveller]

Paul Dishman said:

shed driver said:

One simple way to save money on prescriptions is to revisit the and rewrite the exemptions list.

Currently diabetics, patients with thyroid disorders and many others get all their script items for free. If the free items were just for those items directly connected to the primary exemption reason then there must be some savings? For example a diabetic gets insulin or other medication free as it is essential. They will also get non-related items free also - pain killers for a bad back, antihistamines for hay fever.

I can't see any reasonable person objecting.

SD.

How would that be policed?

It already happens with " war pensioner exemption " they are exempt for only stuff that is related to that particular war injury or condition. Anything else they pay the regular prescription fee. So diabetics etc Could be policed in the same way. There is already a procedure in place. You obviously did not come across this anomaly when you practiced.

[Sheepshanks]

Storer said:

Being over 65 years old does not entitle you to have bus travel, TV licence, prescriptions, etc, on top of your state pension, by those in the population paying tax on everything they do.

Good news! Prescriptions are free from age 60.

By the way, pensioners pay tax too.

[Aston Traveller]

mickytruelove said:

I really dont understand the food stuff on perscription. If a person can get gluten free pasta surely i am entitled to regular pasta on perscription.

I dont see gluten free food as a medicine.

It is not a medicine but is known as ACBS item. It is considered a "borderline "" substance.
Gluten free items are prescribed to prevent malnutrition and infertility in men. This is like hypertensive drugs being prescribed to prevent high blood pressure which helps to prevent heart attacks, strokes and other problems. Theoretically gluten free foods and blood pressure tablets prevent health problems which would cost a lot more to treat.
This is the reason that some sessions at Weight Watchers via vouchers are available on the NHS to help people lose weight. ( thought I would irritate a few more people with this info
)

[Aston Traveller]

BoRED S2upid said:

Aston Traveller said:

Coeliacs have to pay the same prescription charges as everyone else. They are not free.

A big problem is that parents with more than one child will not cook a separate meal for the child who is not coeliac. So use the gluten free one for both children or all the family! This is clearly wrong but not sure how it can be stopped. Theoretically the GP is only supposed to prescribe only what the coeliac would eat per month but I've seen scripts for huge amounts of foods.

Prescription charges are £8 per item are they not? So if they do pay it's no way cheaper than a supermarket! Aren't doctors supposed to issue scripts per item? So 1 packet of pasta per script? Would soon stop this.

Occasionally a single pack of a product happens. However, the same guidelines apply to all prescription items that are needed long term. The government guideline are to prescribe for 28 days.
As said before there are problems with people cooking the same food for all the family and not cooking separately for coeliacs and non coeliacs. Unless there is a limit imposed on the quantity able to be prescribed I do not know how you would tackle the problem. ( limits can be imposed as those who require surgical hosiery are supposed to be allowed 2 pairs per 12 months)

[Tankrizzo]

shed driver said:

One simple way to save money on prescriptions is to revisit the and rewrite the exemptions list.

Currently diabetics, patients with thyroid disorders and many others get all their script items for free. If the free items were just for those items directly connected to the primary exemption reason then there must be some savings? For example a diabetic gets insulin or other medication free as it is essential. They will also get non-related items free also - pain killers for a bad back, antihistamines for hay fever.

I can't see any reasonable person objecting.

SD.

I am T1 diabetic with Addisons disease and I'd have zero problem with this.

[Paul Dishman]

Aston Traveller said:

Paul Dishman said:

shed driver said:

One simple way to save money on prescriptions is to revisit the and rewrite the exemptions list.

Currently diabetics, patients with thyroid disorders and many others get all their script items for free. If the free items were just for those items directly connected to the primary exemption reason then there must be some savings? For example a diabetic gets insulin or other medication free as it is essential. They will also get non-related items free also - pain killers for a bad back, antihistamines for hay fever.

I can't see any reasonable person objecting.

SD.

How would that be policed?

It already happens with " war pensioner exemption " they are exempt for only stuff that is related to that particular war injury or condition. Anything else they pay the regular prescription fee. So diabetics etc Could be policed in the same way. There is already a procedure in place. You obviously did not come across this anomaly when you practiced.

No need for sarcasm. There isn't a formal procedure in place for checking war pensioner exemption against individual prescription items at pharmacy level, so it wasn't policed and relied on the honesty of the individual. I can't see NHS England being happy with that.