Rumours Re Scrapping Prescription Charges?

Iam64

I hope not MayBee. Fifteen years ago I was ill enough to be prescribed one of the then new biological drugs to treat psoriatic rheumatoid arthritis. The cost then was around £12000 a year or more. Here I am at 77 doing ok. My drugs are out of patent so cost a lot less but to quote my consultant “ keeps my patients out of wheel chairs”
Surely none of us object to others having potentially life saving treatments which we all contribute towards via our nhs x

My point was that if someone paid nearly ten pounds for a prescription only drug and realised that produced generically it only cost a few pence they’d feel angry about it and probably wouldn’t think about the cost of the research that went into the drug initially. I was a bit angry at my vets when I found that I was having to pay a lot of money for something for my dog that only actually cost a few pounds but I had to pay a lot for the actual prescription to get it from Pet Med direct. I do think that people should know how much some medication costs to stop them stockpiling though.

I hope not MayBee. Fifteen years ago I was ill enough to be prescribed one of the then new biological drugs to treat psoriatic rheumatoid arthritis. The cost then was around £12000 a year or more. Here I am at 77 doing ok. My drugs are out of patent so cost a lot less but to quote my consultant “ keeps my patients out of wheel chairs”
Surely none of us object to others having potentially life saving treatments which we all contribute towards via our nhs x

PollyEsther, I’m relieved my response wasn’t seen as accusing. I responded rather sharply because experience tells me there is so much sorting out and organising involved in bereavement, a time when grief and trauma may be at its peak. I’m sorry that you also have recent experience of death. Sadly it’s part of being older that we have close experience of death .

MayBee70

Marydoll

Some of us are prescribed drugs to which we react badly, so another is prescribed.

Iam, I am one of those posters!!! I am allergic to so many drugs and am often left with boxes of unused meds.

Which is why, if someone starts on new medication, the GP should advise them to buy a PPC in case they have to change their medication several times to get it right.

That doesn't solve the issue of unused drugs. Of course there will always be some trial and error and I don't suppose anybody begrudges anybody that, but I don't understand why people keep the drugs they know they're not going to use.

I still don't see that making prescription medications free for the 10-11% who aren't currently eligible will make the problem any worse. I thought this thread was about the 10-11%.

Incidentally, I joined this site because there's a big hole in my life after two recent deaths.

Marydoll

^Some of us are prescribed drugs to which we react badly, so another is prescribed.^

Iam, I am one of those posters!!! I am allergic to so many drugs and am often left with boxes of unused meds.

Which is why, if someone starts on new medication, the GP should advise them to buy a PPC in case they have to change their medication several times to get it right.

veronica678

There should be a charge. I also think the price of the drug should be shown as well so people realise what they would pay outside the NHS and perhaps appreciate what they're getting.

Trouble is people might get annoyed about paying a lot of money for a prescription drug that costs very little. They’ll just feel that they’re subsidising people whose drugs cost a lot.

Some of us are prescribed drugs to which we react badly, so another is prescribed.

Iam, I am one of those posters!!! I am allergic to so many drugs and am often left with boxes of unused meds.

Doodledog

For avoidance of doubt, my post was not to ‘rank order’ conditions that ‘deserve’ free treatment, but to suggest that the fact that only some qualify makes no sense, particularly when the patient gets all prescriptions free if they have a qualifying condition.

I agree with you. That's why, in my opinion, all prescriptions should be free.

If savings need to be made to fund that, maybe doctors could stop prescribing drugs which can be obtained cheaply over the counter.

Iam64, Thank you for discussing with me rather than accusing.

I do take your point. I've had the sad task of dealing with two very close relatives' deaths in the last couple of months. In both cases, I returned bags full of medications to the pharmacy. I've done it before during my working life. I'm not "blaming" elderly people for having unused drugs, but it is a fact that older people are by far the biggest users of prescription medications. In some cases they haven't had a proper medicine review for years.

In any case, I thought the current discussion was about making prescriptions free, not charging people who currently receive them for free. This tangent started because somebody claimed that people misuse things they receive for free.

For avoidance of doubt, my post was not to ‘rank order’ conditions that ‘deserve’ free treatment, but to suggest that the fact that only some qualify makes no sense, particularly when the patient gets all prescriptions free if they have a qualifying condition.

PollyEsther, I don’t agree with the suggestions of prescriptions free of charge.
Buying an annual prescription from the pharmacy, or six month one is cost effective. I bought one annually when still working as auto immune and other conditions mean unfortunately, I need consistent medications.

Your anecdotal evidence of older people not using the meds they’re prescribed is just that, your limited experience. I won’t be the only poster here who had morphine and other treatments in the cupboard after my husband’s sudden death. Some of us are prescribed drugs to which we react badly, so another is prescribed.

Yes they should be returned to the pharmacy to be disposed of but medication in older age often reflects ill health. A little compassion won’t hurt

Chocolatelovinggran

Respectfully, icanhandthemback, if you have insulin dependent diabetes, the condition is permanent, and life threatening.
Without insulin injections, my DD would be very unwell, and then dead, in quite a short period of time.

Respectfully, Chocolatelovinggran, I haven't suggested that it should be any different. I have only argued in defence of people with certain conditions like thyroid deficiency getting free prescriptions across the board following on from Doodledog's post. I'm not sure why you have tagged me with your comment but no offence taken here.
Diabetes is a horrible condition and I get on my high horse regularly about Type 2 being self-inflicted as it appears to be genetic in our family but Type 1 is just a horrible, life threatening, autoimmune condition I wouldn't wish upon anybody let alone take away their free prescriptions. I wish your DD well and hope she stays well.

I thought this was supposed to be about a rumour that everybody would get free prescriptions, not discussing whether more people should pay.

I think that the fact that the current system isn't always fair is a very good reason for making prescriptions free for everybody.

I'd still like to know how much it costs to administer the charges to the 10-11% who do pay.

Respectfully, icanhandthemback, if you have insulin dependent diabetes, the condition is permanent, and life threatening.
Without insulin injections, my DD would be very unwell, and then dead, in quite a short period of time.

There should be a charge. I also think the price of the drug should be shown as well so people realise what they would pay outside the NHS and perhaps appreciate what they're getting.

M0nica

The cost of primary health prescribed medications is well over £10 billion a year. What would you tax or what expenditure would you cut to finance this.

What is needed is more publicity for the Prescription 'Season ticket'

How did Wales and Scotland finance this measure?

Health, social services, and taxation are among powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament since 1999 . NHS Scotland is now different from NHS England in many respects.

Wales has had free prescriptions since 2006,,NI frpm 2010, Scotland since 2011.

At the time Prescription charges were dropped, iirc it was said that such a small proportion of the population paid any charges, adminstration of collection absorbed most of the income.

Right now, only 11% of people in Engl;and pay prescription charges. How much is it costing to administer exemptions, and pre-payment certificates, and collect charges?

Can you just send Andy Burnham over here? We have to pay for so many things medical that we have to budget for it as we get older ( instead of holidays !) I think I am falling in love with your PM.

For those asking why England can't just give out free prescriptions like Scotland and Wales maybe think about this:

Population (approx)
England - 58.8 million
Scotland - 5.5 million
Wales - 3.1 million

Chestnut

A college tutor said never to give people something for nothing, they don't appreciate it. We see this with the NHS in general, people missing appointments for instance.

They should publicise the prescription pre-payment certificate (PPC) and maybe increase the number of illnesses that qualify for an exemption certificate.

The pharmacy also needs to see the exemption certificate when someone signs the back of the prescription and says they are exempt. As far as I know they simply hand out the medicine without seeing proof they are actually exempt.

My surgery posted to numbers of did not attend. It was huge, but given the number of phone appointments and the doctors do not wait for an answer, I can see that it is not always the patient's fault

Doodledog, I am aware that asthma kills as my Nan died from it as did a friend of mine. It was devastating. I think they should be free too. I wouldn't mind paying a bit more tax to cover it. My only reservation about higher taxes is that quite a lot of taxpayers money is wasted and I do resent that. It would be interesting to know if the countries who pay more tax and have better services, have the same amount as wastage as we seem to.

icanhandthemback I have both asthma and a dysfunctional thyroid (with attendant pernicious anaemia). I wasn’t suggesting that sufferers from either condition should be denied free prescriptions -I’d rather they were free for everyone. Asthma can be fatal, as I’m sure you know, so it seems to me odd that prescriptions are charged for asthmatics. I have three inhalers (and occasional steroids in tablet form), and would hate to be in a position where I couldn’t afford any of them.

I agree about the communication problems surrounding appointments, which is why I said they would have to be sorted out. I do still feel that (assuming people know that they have been made) that cancellation is in their own hands, so raising money from fines is fairer than means-testing. It might be too complicated though. Carers and people with remitting problems could well be disadvantaged if they were unable to attend at the last minute.

2507C0

PollyEsther, how rude to say that most wasted prescription meds are created by “old people “! IME older people are more likely to be more likely to use meds correctly and not hoard than younger people who often do not finish the course or forget to take them, or don’t like taking them. I say that as a retired clinician.

I'm sorry you found it rude, but I still think it's probably true. The majority of prescriptions are for elderly people and many of them are repeat prescriptions, so it stands to reason that most "wasted" prescriptions are for the people who make most use of them. I would have thought that if a person pays for a one-off prescription, it's more likely to be used.

I have known a few people who have cleared out their parents' bathroom cabinets and found boxes of unused medications. I've seen them myself..

I'm not sure what kind of clinician you were, but I also had experience of dealing with elderly people and their ailments.

My mother, many years ago, was on free prescriptions due to epilepsy. She said that when she picked up her prescrption there was another customer asking the pharmacist which items were the most important as she couldn't afford them all!
The other problem is that if you get free prescriptions for a specific condition it applies to all prescriptions so if you get prescribed antibiotics for a short term infection, they would be free too! That doesn't make sense to me. There are many anomalies with the system so maybe they just think it will simplify things and save money overall, but as someone said upthread, if things are free people don't always appreciate them! At one time I was on free prescription for my diabetes but also had a certificate for free prescriptions as I was on tax credits as a low earning single mum. Now I'm free because I'm a pensioner!

Scots pay more tax to allow the choice of free prescriptions, university etc. The English seem averse to any idea of raising taxes when they come to vote in general elections. When you look at some European countries with very high taxes - they benefits they have access to are what many of us might aspire to.

PollyEsther, how rude to say that most wasted prescription meds are created by “old people “! IME older people are more likely to be more likely to use meds correctly and not hoard than younger people who often do not finish the course or forget to take them, or don’t like taking them. I say that as a retired clinician.