Payment for prescriptions

Of course things have changed volver but the NHS as it was can't be relevant today.

We have more and more layers of management now!

yet the NHS hasn't moved on since the 1950s.

You can't be serious. Perhaps somebody who actually knows about the NHS might like to explain how things have improved in the last 70 years?

Sheesh...

I agree kittylester things do have to change.

It needs to stop being a 'sacred cow' that no-one is allowed to criticise andweneed to accept that the world has changed since it's inauguration.

The world has moved on, people live longer, treatments have changed. Man has been to the moon, we all have phones (some not even attached to the wall) and yet the NHS hasn't moved on since the 1950s.

Perhaps it can't be all things to all people any more. It's ridiculous to say that, because Bevan said it, it can't change.

Way up thread, WWM2 said we should remove it from political control - DH and I say that every time we chunter about the way things are going.

winterwhite I’ve never voted labour and never will. Especially if people like Corbyn are an example of their politicians. We’d end up being a communist country.

Great idea Katy1959! How?

We need to stop throwing money at the NHS it need to be run properly and stop wasting money .

I am one of those who is just over the threshold to qualify for Pension Credit so I would be hit by a prescription charge. It is unfair since I have paid tax and national insurance. One of the reason for the shortfall in NHS is billionaires who have these offshore accounts. Tax them and close the loopholes then there would be money for the NHS, but as usual excuses are made for them saying we can't do that as they create the wealth. What rubbish. If we start paying I will have to go without certain medications. It is a case of the generations fighting one another once again.

“If people paying up to the cap are then expected to pay again when they need treatment there is no incentive for them to stay in the NHS. I don't think for a minute that if they could get away with it the government wouldn't encourage people to leave - they already allow fee-paying patients to jump NHS queues. “

I’m not sure this it true, I’ve just been referred by my GP to see an orthopaedic surgeon as a private patient - I have private medical insurance but have to pay the cost of the consultant myself. Both my GP and the consultant have said that I might need to have my operation on the NHS as the procedure is complicated by other health conditions I have so back up from other specialist teams might be needed during the operation or during my recovery. If that’s the case, the private consultant will refer me via the local NHS hospital but I join the waiting list like any other patient, no moving to the top of the list. That is what I expected.

Sharina

I’m happy to pay for my prescriptions until I officially retire. No one has to pay more than ten pounds a month for prescriptions as you can buy a certificate which allows all prescriptions for ten pounds a month. I resent though, that it’s only the English that pay for prescriptions. Why can’t we all pay, and pay less? Also, why do I pay for my asthma inhalers while someone with a thyroid condition gets all their meds free?

Hi Sharina, instead of making things worse for everyone out with England, why not try to get things improved for those in England by campaigning for free prescriptions? Surely it would be best to improve for everyone?

Sharina I agree. It's totally unfair. Why have I, as a diabetic, not paid for any prescriptions since I was in in my mid 30s? For most of that time, I could have afforded them.

It's this kind of anomaly which contributes to my thinking that there should be no charge for prescriptions. If people need certain drugs, they should have them, as part of their treatment. Most drugs are a tiny part of the overall cost of the NHS.

I’m happy to pay for my prescriptions until I officially retire. No one has to pay more than ten pounds a month for prescriptions as you can buy a certificate which allows all prescriptions for ten pounds a month. I resent though, that it’s only the English that pay for prescriptions. Why can’t we all pay, and pay less? Also, why do I pay for my asthma inhalers while someone with a thyroid condition gets all their meds free?

LadyWee

Ultimately as some have posted already the current set up is not fit for purpose and needs changing.
There is wastage that needs proper oversight, it also needs funding properly and that means not just the medications but the staff all need properly paying. We are at an all time low in the NHS with so many leaving. A lot of that is related to funding. You can plough in money to medications and services but if you don’t have the backbone infrastructure in place it won’t work.
Premises are often outdated as well.
Either way change is coming as it is collapsing we just have to watch and see how it evolves!

I'm sure there is wastage, as there is in any large organisation, although nobody seems to know how much.

The issue is that, compared with other first world countries, the NHS is underfunded. It needs more money (yes, for staff and infrastructure) and the question is whether that's paid to maintain a service for everybody through a progressive tax system or just for those who can afford to pay individually.

Mapleleaf

Can someone tell me where the promised £350 million per week for the NHS that was promised by the pro brexiteer brigade on the side of their big bus once we came out of the EU has gone? That would surely solve the issues of no money in the NHS. Oh dear, cynical me. I guess we were lied to.

I'll answer that, if you can tell me anything about the new 40 hospitals we were promised. I guess they both belong in the "pie in the sky" category.

Doodledog I have been consistent throughout. I don't think there should be any charges for prescriptions and they should be paid for through the tax system. Maybe you just liking arguing for the sake of it.

Ultimately as some have posted already the current set up is not fit for purpose and needs changing.
There is wastage that needs proper oversight, it also needs funding properly and that means not just the medications but the staff all need properly paying. We are at an all time low in the NHS with so many leaving. A lot of that is related to funding. You can plough in money to medications and services but if you don’t have the backbone infrastructure in place it won’t work.
Premises are often outdated as well.
Either way change is coming as it is collapsing we just have to watch and see how it evolves!

Can someone tell me where the promised £350 million per week for the NHS that was promised by the pro brexiteer brigade on the side of their big bus once we came out of the EU has gone? That would surely solve the issues of no money in the NHS. Oh dear, cynical me. I guess we were lied to.

How about not charging anybody for prescriptions? Those who can afford to pay would pay through their taxes. . . . But they were part of your claim, when you claimed that people who earn more pay more - they don't necessarily. They do, however, have more spare cash to spend on superior health care.

That is exactly what I am arguing for. Are you playing devil's advocate again, as I have better things to do than explain myself again if so? I have already said that I was not talking about above the cap - until that point it is true that higher earners pay more than lower ones.

But how would they leave the NHS? They can't stop paying for it. That's fine! If they don't want to use it, they're paying for a service they won't use.
People can't leave the NHS now, but as I said, there is no saying that that will not be an option if the government is able to separate those who pay and those who don't, as a means test will require a change of system. There are already ways of staying in the NHS but paying to get better (or faster) treatment, and these could easily be extended into a 2 tier system, as has happened with dentistry. If higher earners have to pay the top rate of NI (regardless of whether or not the current contributions are high enough) as well as pay for prescriptions they might decide that they would be better off taking advantage of private schemes that would prescribe certain drugs but refer them to the NHS for more expensive ones. There are already 'half way house' schemes like that - cheaper than fully private, but offering access to a GP and (I assume limited) access to prescriptions.

Anyway, I've already said all of this. There's not much point in repeating myself.

PS. I have aspirin on prescription because it's clinically useful. It doesn't really matter that it's cheap.

And what percentage of people are like that Pedwards? As a former teacher, I could tell a few stories about awkward parents, but they were a tiny fraction of the total. Every organisation has "awkward" customers.

Pedwards

I think there needs to be a change in mindset from some people who expect everything free on demand. I’m a nurse in the NHS and my daughter is a Podiatrist. When she first started working in the NHS, she had such a battle telling people what the service was commissioned to deliver (based on clinical need and evidence based), some older people expect to be able to book in every few weeks to have their toenails cut!
A colleague working in the complaints dept one day was preparing herself for a phone call with a man who she says she used to call Mr Podiatry, she now calls him Mr Aspirin. This is a man who has had more than his moneys worth out of the NHS, but is a serial complainer. Most recently his complaint is because GP’s in our are are no longer prescribing Aspirin. My colleague advised that this is a very cheap drug which can be bought for less than £1 at the supermarket. His response? Why should I buy it when I can get it free? ??‍♀️

Hmm! Not sure where she works, but apparently my poor old diabetic feet aren't bad enough to be referred to a podiatrist - and I need more than my nails cutting. The GP said there's a really long waiting list anyway, so I pay for a private podiatrist, which I wouldn't do, if I didn't need treatment.

PS. I don't think there should be any prescription charges.

I agree that many prescription drugs cost less than the prescription charge. I looked up the price to the NHS of the drugs I take regularly. One costs more than the prescription charge, but the rest cost peanuts. Unfortunately, they're not available without a prescription.

I think there needs to be a change in mindset from some people who expect everything free on demand. I’m a nurse in the NHS and my daughter is a Podiatrist. When she first started working in the NHS, she had such a battle telling people what the service was commissioned to deliver (based on clinical need and evidence based), some older people expect to be able to book in every few weeks to have their toenails cut!
A colleague working in the complaints dept one day was preparing herself for a phone call with a man who she says she used to call Mr Podiatry, she now calls him Mr Aspirin. This is a man who has had more than his moneys worth out of the NHS, but is a serial complainer. Most recently his complaint is because GP’s in our are are no longer prescribing Aspirin. My colleague advised that this is a very cheap drug which can be bought for less than £1 at the supermarket. His response? Why should I buy it when I can get it free? ??‍♀️

But how would they leave the NHS? They can't stop paying for it. That's fine! If they don't want to use it, they're paying for a service they won't use.

But they were part of your claim, when you claimed that people who earn more pay more - they don't necessarily. They do, however, have more spare cash to spend on superior health care.