Do you get your shampoo from the Dr.?

I tried to cut and paste last night PamelaJ1 but it wouldn't work. Newnanny £6 for a small bottle of special shampoo like t gel may seem ok to you but some people have to buy a large bottle of the cheapest brand shampoo they can find in order to manage financially. Hence the need for a prescription. You can't let scalp psoriasis go untreated and ordinary shampoo can often make it worse. Breaking things down into per use doesn't make it affordable. I think sometimes people are unaware that regardless of our welfare system poverty does actually exist.

Thanks annep for trying.
It seems that most of us are in agreement?
If you can afford to buy your medications over the counter then you should.
If there are complications such as quantity issues or being unable to afford to pay for your prescription then by all means use the NHS.
It needs a mind change. Most of us grew up with the knowledge that all health care should be free and the NHS could cope with anything.
It obviously can’t and is often abused. But not by us?

Good summary.

Health care SHOULD be free. That was the original intention.

Now we're being brainwashed into thinking we can't afford it, even though, as I've said before we apparently can afford Trident (200 billion) and we also gave 500 billion (five hundred thousand million!!) pounds to the banks with nothing to show for it except huge payouts to their CEOs.

The NHS is being stealthily privatised and getting us to pay for what was once free at point of need is part of this process. Please don't collude in it. The end result is something called "medical bankruptcy" which Americans know all about!!

Lots of people do believe Trident is worth it, especially with Putin behaving as he does. If he can order killings on our own home ground, what could he do if we had no deterrent?
As for the banks, it’s truly annoying that they were bailed out, but what was the alternative? The financial sector pays a massive amount in taxation which actually helps to keep the health services running.
What about our National Health Service, why is it a World Health Service? We shouldn’t be treating people who are not eligible for treatment, other than absolutely emergency treatment, but we do treat people who are not eligible. Other countries wouldn’t give you non emergency treatment without payment. I don’t really believe in a system which abdicates responsibility from the user.
I believe we should pay a small charge for a doctor’s appointment and for an A+E attendance. It would help negate some of the missed appointments and time wasting appointments, of which there are apparently many. I believe a system something like the systems used in France or Germany would be a better alternative, these systems use a partly self funded, possibly with insurance, partly state funded model. And their health services appear to be in much better shape than ours. However much money we put into the health service, it will still require more.

First Trident: We are told we must spend hundreds of billions on weapons (horrible weapons actually) because we are under threat. But from whom? You say it's the Russians (whose people are lovely but whose government is evil). But where's the evidence that they are about to attack/invade the UK? Why haven't they attacked/invaded Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries (the latter nearer to Russia)? Those countries don't seem to see the need for nuclear weapons. Are they misguided?

Next the banks: The banking crisis was due to mismanagement of funds. They took risks with their lending and didn't have the required funds to cover themselves when some of them collapsed, precipitating a crisis. No worries - we taxpayers bailed them out. Only in Iceland have these crooks been tried and jailed.

So - if we stopped the above payments (next banking crisis on the horizon probably) we could easily fund the NHS and we could treat all comers.

As regards other people using the NHS, Health Tourism was accounting for about 0.3% of NHS spending (in 2016). This is around 200 million pounds. We gave 13.4 billion pounds in foreign aid, so you could look at it as giving more foreign aid!

NHS staff are already stressed out of their minds (well nearly) and are already upset at having to do ID checks which they feel may deter people from seeking life-saving treatment, or who have infectious diseases that threaten the community. And indeed hundreds of NHS staff have protested against further proposals for ID checks. Asking everyone for ID would be both costly and time-wasting.

Of course, on-one likes to see people grinning and getting away with a free ride, but shall we start with the top bods, not the vulnerable sick?

When one of my children was small their eczema was so severe that it would turn into open sores and get infected and need antibiotics and steroids: which costs the NHS more money than the preventative washes and lotions they were prescribed.

Banning preventative prescriptions is a false economy.

We were on a low budget at the time.

Oh and the NHS costs the gov less than the cost to governments where health is a PAYER at point of service system.

It is very very good value for money. Don't believe the lies

People with dermatology conditions will not be the down fall of the NHS

The people who ruin the NHS will be the people duped into believing that a payer @ point of care system leaves anyone other than investors better off.

Well said notanon!

So we’re not all in agreement then.

I agree with notanan2 and grannypauline.

No apparently even stuff normally on prescription FOR CHILDREN who of course dont pay for them - cannot have their ussual items on prescription anymore-and obviously in the case of a child a g.p.would not prescribe lightly- also i myself can only have some 'milder 'painkillers etc as im on warfarin also- but now ive to get them over counter.if i was on 'strong stuff' i would get them free but im penalised for the other medication im on.also i do have psoriasis and a few other medical conditions,plus vitamin D for medical reasons so added up to my sons items its all going to tot up and theres going to come a point where i cant afford it all! Yet scotland get them ALL 'scot free' (parden pun) so its really unfair on us english part of the UK.

Maybe our govt could take the 200million and the 13.4 billion theyre ' giving away' and use it to fund our own british NHS then?-'charity begins at home' and all that? And make all of the UK equal also?we should either all pay or all get free prescriptions- also leave the prescriptions alone for people(including kids) who are on long term medication,no matter wether we can get it in £1 shop or not!

I was told (by drs receptionist)i cannot get one of items im taking on free prescription anymore- i asked the chemist who dispenses it who informed me shes wrong- its over the dosage for the pay over counter medications so its actually up to my g.p wether he continues to prescribe it or not- NOT the receptionist(lets face it theyre ussualy a jumped up jobsworth who decides wether we even NEED to see a doctor- now theyre taking it upon themselves to decide what we are allowed on prescption,or not!! So our 'health proffesionals' need to at least be in agreement over whose making these descisions for us!And i for one dont think it should be my doctors receptionist!!!

Your receptionist mosf definitely should not bd making decisions. I don't think they decide on whether you see a doctor I would complain to my MP if that happened Also we in N Ireland get ours free. You only mentioned Scotland. Each country of the UK makes its own decision on this issue. Perhaps yoy would benefit from a prepayment subscription. It does seem hard on you.

It does seem strange- giving so much money to foriegn aid when we need so much here. Perhaps someone can explain the reasoning behind it. Also listening to all these views makes one realise how difficult it is for government to make decisions that please everyone.

Nannan, just ask your pharmacist if the receptionist is correct. If she isn’t then go to either your Dr. or the practice manager. They should be able to sort it out.
The receptionists at my surgery are lovely and helpful. At least I’ve always found them so.
I’m sorry that I can’t get my head around trident and all the other things that some of you feel so strongly about. I don’t feel I have enough knowledge about the state of the world to know what to think. Maybe those in charge don’t either but I’ll leave them to it. My opinion won’t change any of that.
Meanwhile however we feel about how the health service should be run. It isn’t so we must face the facts. If my little helps then I will continue to keep my requirements to the minimum that is possible.

annep the cynic in me says we only give aid to countries where it is in our interest to do so! If they have a natural resource we want for example.

Possibly Nonnie I must research that. How did I ever find time to work?lol. Off the subject but if I could start over I would want to work in politics and try to make a difference.

Psoriasis medications, ( and probably meds for other skin conditions) soon rack up because different ones are used for different areas, eg I have to use one type of steroid for skin, another for my scalp, and then drops for my ears. Also when large areas of skin are affected and need treatment twice a day the tubes don’t go far. Also it’s a canny disease and loves nothing more than to suddenly stop responding to,a medication than previously worked well, necessitating yet another change of product.

www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39653421/uk-foreign-aid-where-does-it-go-and-whyê

Many gransnetters seem to be well informed on the subject of foreign aid. Not me! After reading a couple of articles ( not major research!) it seems some of it is given to aid security and to control immigration and impact of poverty on other countries. Britain is one of the major contributors. Some is given to countries which spend money on space programmes arms etc and it seems the money may not always be spent wisely. It is also given as it is morally right to help others and I agree. I myself donate to Sightsavers. However I also donate to British charities. Its difficult to think of the need on your own doorstep and still support the level of aid. But I'm not a politician.

lets face it theyre ussualy a jumped up jobsworth who decides wether we even NEED to see a doctor

Usually? The receptionists at my surgery are nothing like that. I’d be happy for them to ask a few questions to make sure people are seen by the best person and that more urgent cases are prioritised, but I think they know they’ll face abuse if they do. People make mistakes, and if you have an issue with one individual, you need to take that up with the practice.

DD has a very bad reaction to insect bites and was prescribed something to take to prevent the reaction , this year she was refused the prescription , but the chemist only had the stuff in packs that must be prescribed , so he couldn't sell it to her . So does she end up in hospital when , not if , bitten ? Impossible to get a GP appointment , happily ,after doing the rounds she did find some for sale. We do buy what we can when we can