Do you get your shampoo from the Dr.?

Pamela sent you a pm. Thank you.

At Aldi I bought ibuprofen for 24p. About 1p per tablet. Everyone must be able to afford those.

I think the NHS could save money by charging people in hospital for their food. After all they would be buying their own food if at home. It is a health service not a cafe.

A bottle of shampoo may seem expensive but will do 30 or more hair washes so actually good value. If 6 pounds for a bottle each hair wash would be only be 20p per wash. Should not be prescription as all can afford 20p.

I would think that Wright's soap could be quite harsh but possibly it is good for some conditions.

Wrights soap works for some not me. Makes my skin worse. I use sainsburys vegetable based soap - very cheap. and Boots No 7 hypoallergenic skin wash cream etc.

I think if GP’s prescribe something, they could then tell us that a similar product was available over the counter, then we could decide for ourselves what to do.
My GP has done this twice, but only when I asked.As well as being able to afford it, it was cheaper bought at a chemists, and I didn’t have the faff of phoning the doctor or making an appointment.
On psoriasis, an awful condition for some, Wrights Coal Tar soap helps( in mild psoriasis) as does the shampoo Klorane
Peony which you can buy online.

Good post Eloethan, you put it together so well.

Mancgirl, your psoriasis may be a lot worse than mine. Mine seems to be under control now. I slap on the emollient cream with gay abandon. About £7-10 for 500mls. Not too horrendous. However I have used diet very effectively.
I don’t know if annep can send my private message onto you . It was very long! If you are interested I’ll PM you too but not tonight.

Doctors also prescribe items that cost pence but people who don't receive free prescriptions pay much more than the worth with todays prescription charges.

Maybe it should be left to individuals to decide if they need to avail themselves of free products of this nature. Some things are so cheap, eg aspirin and paracetamol, that I think most people who feel they can easily afford to buy them, would be willing to do so.

It's a tricky issue though. If a doctor were to make comments to the effect that they can be purchased over the counter, it might make some people who are genuinely struggling to make ends meet feel embarrassed and/or guilty. They may then feel obliged to pay for things they can ill afford - or decide to go without.

I think ongoing conditions that seriously affect people's lives, for which expensive creams and medications are needed, there should be no charge, whatever the economic status of the patient.

Means testing is, in my view, a blunt instrument because there will always be people who have a low income, but not low enough to qualify them for benefits. It also costs a lot to administer.

Whilst it may be true that treatments in other countries may, in some areas, be superior to our own, there is also the issue of whether such treatments are readily available to everyone or whether some people lose out.

A Kings Fund report covering, I believe, the period 1997-2010 concluded:

"The evidence shows that the NHS is performing well compared to other countries' health systems, although there is still room for improvement in some areas."

It may well be that the situation has changed since then because of austerity policies and an expensive and disruptive re-organisation programme. The reluctance of this government to fund permanent nursing and medical posts, instead relying on very expensive agency staff, has pushed costs up significantly.

ps you haven't tasted mine, I think I posted before that even the birds turned their beaks up at it.

Marks and Spencer Food do a quite nice soda bread, but it is pricey! It's nice toasted.

mmm bread pudding, lovely

I can't believe it Jalima, I would rather go without bread then eat the gf, dry, tasteless, horrible. At best you could make a bread pudding from yours so you don't waste it.

Annep, I’ll private message you.

Barmeyoldbat any gf bread you can buy is better than any I have made

I've never heard of that either elleks - many of us have a condition which requires prescription medication but nothing else would be free unless a GP or hospital doctor deems it necessary.
Even if they recommend it, eg paracetamol, then we are told to buy it over the counter which is fair enough.

I've thought the same. My husband has a medical condition which requires prescriptions, but this means he doesn't pay for any medication-even cough mixtures etc. I feel it would be fairer if only the specific medicines he needs were free, and anything else should be bought as ordinary people have to.

If you can buy it then it shouldn't be prescribed imo. Save the nhs for when we really need it.

Yes the bread can work out a lot cheaper on prescription There is a fresh bread that is made twice a week and can be ordered from the chemist but its for a box of 6 or 8 and its lovely, almost like the real bread. But to buy a box is expensive. Biscuits are quite easy to make, use to make my mum ginger biscuits and they have far less sugar in them. Trouble is not everyone has cooking skills.. I often put a put a packet of gf cakes in the Food bank box. Hang on a minute, I believe gf foods are free from prescription charges, well they use to be, a Coeliac has a condition that is life threatening and so their prescriptions are free.

Yes, I think the prescription charge is £8.80 per item now so even a gf loaf at about £3.20 is cheaper!

I'm not sure how these costs are calculated but unless you're exempt from prescription charges surely it's cheaper to buy many of the items anyway. Paracetamol is the cheapest thing, about 50p a pack so why would you pay nearly £9 to have it on orescription!

Niobe I am not sure why the whole family would eat the gf biscuits as, although much improved, they are still not as nice as those made with wheat.
And there are very few in a packet - and expensive.

Poor families need these on free prescription because of the cost and the harm gluten does if eaten for which the cost of treatment would be far more that the food.
Well said Barmeyoldbat
and it's a shame if a coeliac child is deprived of the occasional treat such as biscuits because they are no longer available on prescription although I do realise that biscuits are not necessary to life and have cost the NHS too much in the past.

GF foods in general are much more expensive.

Niobe, biscuit have been taken off the list, now only certain gf foods are available on prescription. These include flour, bread and I believe pasta. Theses are all staple diet foods and costs far more that food that isn't gf, especially the bread which is over £3 for a small loaf. Poor families need these on free prescription because of the cost and the harm gluten does if eaten for which the cost of treatment would be far more that the food.
Anneb what would your letter say... no free prescriptions?

Fflaurie, re the gluten free food. I knew a family where the father was diagnosed as having coeliac dishes and his wife blithely told us that as he gets free gluten free biscuits prescribed now the family just ate those too instead of buying biscuits! Made my blood boil!