NHS Pre Payment Certificates

Mr Wu

Just a quick one

Is there any limit to the amount of perscriptions you can claim on these certificates?

Just seems a bit daft to me that my perscription for my asthma comes to £21.60ish
3 items on one perscription.

Ive just brought one of these pre-payment cards at a cost of £28. As advised by the pharmacy, they gave me an A4 receipt and told me to back date the card to this date, which i did, i then reclaimed my original fee of £21.60 and have since had two more perscriptions. I cant seem to find any rules about how many you can claim.

At this rate i may as well hammer it for a month or two then ill have enough inhalors for the next year or two.

Anyone else use these cards?

xstrathyx

more importantly mr wu, where the fock have you been hiding? chile?

supersonic

I have a yearly one, which costs about 10 quid per month - useful as I have 4 prescriptions per month.

Not sure how far you can back date, there is a government page with info though.

What annoys me is that certain 'lifelong' conditions allow you free prescriptions for everything, and not other conditions.

Mr Wu

xSTRATHYx wrote:

more importantly mr wu, where the fock have you been hiding? chile?

Yeah something like that!

Ive come into season again. I mountaineer in the winter months and MTB in the warmer months! Plus ive just brought a new bike so im all go again :-)

How you been?

Mr Wu

supersonic wrote:

I have a yearly one, which costs about 10 quid per month - useful as I have 4 prescriptions per month.

Not sure how far you can back date, there is a government page with info though.

What annoys me is that certain 'lifelong' conditions allow you free prescriptions for everything, and not other conditions.

SS

I think you may have misunderstood my query.

You can only back date the card for upto 3 months, thats not the problem.

Obviously, as you know, you can get the year long one at £10 per month or the three monthly one at £28. I just wondered how many times you can actually claim for a perscription on that one three month card. The maths just dont make sense, £28 for three months, even if i have two persrciptions a month for three months thats over a hundred quid.


Totally know what you mean about the lifetime illness's such as asthma i guess. They should be free. Do diabetics get free perscriptions?

supersonic

Ah I see. I think it depends on your doctor and how many he wants to give.

The guidelines are 1 month of drugs per prescription usually. But obviously this varies as some are on an as need basis, some may be a 7 day course, or you might get more if going on holiday etc.

So if you have the prescriptions to take to the chemist, I can't see whay you cannot claim as many as you like.

Me Mam is a receptionist at the local surgery so knows a bit lol.

Thing is you can also squeeze 4 months out of a 3 month pre pay card if you time it right

Thread8

Diabetics do, my aunt is one and she gets all her insulin, batteries for her insulin pump, needles, cotton wool and antiseptic wipes all for free

Andy B

I don't think there is a limit to the number of prescriptions you can have on a PPC

I have 2 or 3 sets of medication every month (Arthritis & Asthma) as standard & have used my PPC for any other prescriptions when needed (antibiotics etc)

Anonymous

In Wales, we all have free prescriptions, but it's a double edged sword.
Those of us who only need things every now and again end up sucking money out of the system that should really be spent on patients with prescriptions for chronic conditions.

Papa Smurf

Unless it's changed there is no limit to how many you can get... But it's restricted by how much your local doctors will give you

Kitty

Good idea though, I need to stock up on inhalers myself.

Northwind

supersonic wrote:

What annoys me is that certain 'lifelong' conditions allow you free prescriptions for everything

Such as scottishness

Where it gets silly... Leaving aside for the moment the fact that I live in a more civilised country than youse, I'm diabetic so I'd get free prescriptions in england. But check out my repeat prescription, 1/3rd of it is diabetic stuff but I get all the rest free too. And the rest is all wheat free stuff since I'm coeliac, so I get TONS of stuff on prescription, most of which isn't even medicine, it's food!

Not to slag off this situation, actually it strikes me that it's just how things should be. Let doctors control medication not wallets.

redvee

Thread8 wrote:

Diabetics do, my aunt is one and she gets all her insulin, batteries for her insulin pump, needles, cotton wool and antiseptic wipes all for free

Diabetics qualify for a NHS Prescription Charge Certificate with a medical exemption, valid for 5 years. No charge is made for this card.

Anonymous

Northwind wrote:

supersonic wrote:

What annoys me is that certain 'lifelong' conditions allow you free prescriptions for everything

Such as scottishness

Where it gets silly... Leaving aside for the moment the fact that I live in a more civilised country than youse, I'm diabetic so I'd get free prescriptions in england. But check out my repeat prescription, 1/3rd of it is diabetic stuff but I get all the rest free too. And the rest is all wheat free stuff since I'm coeliac, so I get TONS of stuff on prescription, most of which isn't even medicine, it's food!

Not to slag off this situation, actually it strikes me that it's just how things should be. Let doctors control medication not wallets.

Same in Wales though, except like I said, it takes the money away from those who really can't afford it.
I do agree that prescriptions for chronic or lifelong ailments should be free though.

mazule

supersonic wrote:

What annoys me is that certain 'lifelong' conditions allow you free prescriptions for everything, and not other conditions.

I have a medical exemption certificate so qualify for free scripts for everything. The logic is that the bureaucracy of working out what is a related condition and what is not for each person would far outweigh the costs of just providing free everything.

For example I get the occasional asthma inhaler on my scripts. I only get through about one or two a year, but for me they're free. There is a chance that in me the asthma may be linked to my exempted condition but it is not black and white. I know of no doctor who would state 100% that it is or is not related.

supersonic

I have high blood pressure and will have to take the medications for life - I don't see why this is not a chronic condition. But as you say, the government is never logical when it comes to money lol. In that case, they should all be free really, like Wales and Scotland.

Anonymous

I was on high blood pressure medication for a while, most likely due my drink and drug fueled messy youth.
The medication was giving me weird side effects, and potentially having to be on tablets for the rest of my life, from the ripe old age of 25 was a wake up call. So, I stopped taking them after about 4 weeks, then, I virtually stopped drinking, got back on the bike and started running, and all is well. Back to bang on 120/80 with no medication now.

I know this isn't the case for the vast majority of high blood pressure patients, but in my case, it was certainly my lifestyle that was to blame.
I don't miss the crazy days one bit, really. I feel better now than I have in years, and getting back on the bike reminded me of who I am.

Northwind

supersonic wrote:

I have high blood pressure and will have to take the medications for life - I don't see why this is not a chronic condition.

Asthma's another classic.

Plus, there's the short vs long term economics- what's cheaper, free prescriptions or hospital stays for people who avoid the doctor because they can't afford prescriptions? Or, choose not to afford it, it amounts to the same thing.

supersonic

Yeah, seems to be loads. Dunno why some get the free ones - don't grudge it them at all, I think they should - but others too.

My hypertension seems to be of primary cause, so will probably be on them to the day I die.