Prescription charges for the over sixties

Witzend

Well, maybe it wasn’t the strongest available, growstuff, but it was certainly co-something, without a prescription, and IIRC not to be taken for more than 3 consecutive days at a time.

I didn’t have shingles too badly, so it was more or less enough for me.

Yes, that makes sense. I thought you would have needed to take it for longer. In that case, it most certainly would have been cheaper with a prescription (even if you'd paid full price for the prescription) and the 10mg/500mg version is more effective but isn't available without a prescription.

Well, maybe it wasn’t the strongest available, growstuff, but it was certainly co-something, without a prescription, and IIRC not to be taken for more than 3 consecutive days at a time.

I didn’t have shingles too badly, so it was more or less enough for me.

nadateturbe I wish more G.Ps would do the same, there really is no need to be prescribing items that cost so little.

Witzend I'm not sure that's true. The recommended first line painkiller for shingles is paracetamol supplemented with codeine. The strongest codeine/paracetamol medication which can be bought without a prescription is 8mg/500mg, which is quite expensive and can only be bought for a limited time (10 days?).

Co-dydramol, which has 10mg of codeine is far more effective, but is only available with a prescription and is, incidentally, cheaper to the NHS than an individual could buy the weaker painkiller.

I'm a long-term user of painkillers and know the cost and availability when I've occasionally run out.

I also have aspirin on a repeat prescription, as do all people who have had a heart attack. Yes, I could afford to buy them, but I'd probably forget and this way the GP can make sure I order them every month.

The GP I saw when I has shingles at not far off 70 must have been ahead of the curve - she told me I could buy the strong painkillers needed (not available off the shelf) without a prescription, and I had no objection to doing so.

I read somewhere that each prescription item costs around £7 just in admin, never mind the cost of the item, so prescribing things like paracetamol does seem daft when it’s so cheap to buy just about anywhere.

There were several mega-packs of paracetamol - literally hundreds of tablets - left over after the stockpiling friend I mentioned in a pp died. They were all chucked out, along with the rest of his hoard.
This was someone who left 2 houses owned outright and over £1m in cash. (I do know this, , since dh was the executor.)

Yes, I am well aware that a lot of pensioners are far from well off, but many are very comfortable, and to me it does seem wrong for those to get everything for free.

Tina1957 I have said it before and I will repeat it again. I f you have a lot of medication, you buy a prescription annual 'season ticket' that costs £110 approx and that covers everything for a year. This equals just over £2 a week.

I live in wales where prescriptions are free. Both my parents take quite a lot of medication if they have to pay for prescriptions they would not have much money left at the end of the month to enjoy the rest of their lives whereby they have both worked since they were 14 and have never claimed any benefits.

* Grannypiper* Surgeries where I live in NI won't prescribe OTC medication, and rightly so.

Living in Scotland means all prescriptions and eye tests are free. I think it is high time any item that costs less than £5 was removed from the "free" list. There are very few people that can't find 20p for Paracetamol, Asprin, Ibruprophen etc

effalump

I'm sure I read somewhere that prescriptions are free for all ages in Wales and Scotland, paid for by England.

effalump. You may have read that nonsense but every time on here someone corrects it saying something along the lines of Scots pay tax and from those taxes we receive a portion back which the Scottish parliament can spend according to their priorities. We choose to spend it on health and education, hence free prescriptions and free university tuition amongst other things.
England chooses to spend their allocation on ? who knows. If I was paying tax in England I would most certainly be investigating why the same distribution was not being used for the English, not reiterating lies as you have today.

effalump if you have multiple medications you buy a prescription annual 'season ticket, approx £110 that covers all medication for a year.

Germanshepherdsmum

Your last post was remarkably well-written for a dyslexic Yammy. I always thought dyslexia affected the spelling of words rather than the choice of them?

Dyslexia has many forms and can affect people in many ways mine, are spelling and Grammar so my choice of words is nor affected. I do use spell checks. I'm going to take what you say as a compliment.
This was meant to be about prescription charges and my first comment was perhaps they will bring in a kind of Means test where we all pay on a sliding scale according to our gross net income. I personally feel guilty about getting a winter fuel allowance.
As for the spelling of Stewart, all my relations spell it that way, not Stuart which was introduced by Mary queen of Scots who had been educated in France where there was no w. Until then it was spelt Stewart or Steward alluding to the job even in Scotland.

all the home nations bar england get free prescriptions, free bus passes at 60. only some areas in england get free bus passes at 60. i have worked since i was 18, apart from a few years when my children were little, but went back to work when my youngest was 18 months. expected to retire at 60, then it went to 65 then within a few months at risen to 66, which for me is now next year. since turning 60 i have been on necessary medication which would cost me over £50 monthly. i still work part time and receive universal credit and would not necessarily receive help. they have said it will be a gradual increase if it goes through but at the moment seems as if its another attack on those born in the 1950's.

effalump

I'm sure I read somewhere that prescriptions are free for all ages in Wales and Scotland, paid for by England.

Devolution! Not paid for by England!

effalump I'm not going to rise to the bait as I am busy atm. I will, however, check back later to see if you get your comeuppance.

effalump

I'm sure I read somewhere that prescriptions are free for all ages in Wales and Scotland, paid for by England.

No, they're paid for out of the money Scotland and Wales are allowed through devolution.

Doodledog I don't try to pick holes in everything you write, but this thread is about prescription charges and you gave the impression that you though people who choose not to work don't pay for their prescriptions. They do. If I misunderstood you, I've already apologised.

PS. I'm well aware of your thoughts about benefits.

A lot of people over the age of 60 take several different medications and at £9 a pop that could work out quite expensive. One year ago, my 90 y.o. mum took one prescription drug, one year later she now has to take seven. Big difference.
A lot of 1950's women who have had to wait an extra 6 years for their pension have been plunged into poverty because of it, now will have to find the extra money if they have to pay for meds too.

I'm sure I read somewhere that prescriptions are free for all ages in Wales and Scotland, paid for by England.

Though I would just mention, if I may, that the name of the dynasty which followed the Tudors is correctly spelled ‘Stuart’. Alegrias may or may not wish to mention the spelling of a certain Scottish shire. We seem to have drifted a long way from prescription charges. I will return to Pedants’ Corner.

I will not comment again on your use of language. Perhaps you could reciprocate by not commenting on things for which you only have half an idea?

We were not "handed" England, James I & VI took on the English crown in 1603 because he was the first in line of succession, as the Tudor line had otherwise run out, and James himself was a direct descendant of Henry VII through both his mother and his father. He had been brought up in England by people who turned him against his mother and Scotland.

Robert the Bruce lived in the 13th/14th century. Contrary to what some people think, things have indeed moved on in Scotland since then. We have running water and everything now. He was of French descent, did you know? A warlord who hedged his bets, as warlords tend to do.

Finally our well known Scots poet. Who wrote in both Scots, which is a language of course, and in English. If he is the only one you know, try looking up Fergusson, Dunbar, Morgan, MacDairmid, Lochhead, Jackie Kay, Iain Crichton Smith, Alan Ramsay....

Back to prescriptions now?

Your last post was remarkably well-written for a dyslexic Yammy. I always thought dyslexia affected the spelling of words rather than the choice of them?

Alegrias1

Yes, that's right. Our great education system helps us know how to speak the language of our feudal overlords.

I wonder why people have to correct your grammar so often?

My grammar has to be corrected because I am dyslexic and no amount of teaching, tutoring or lecturing can rectify it as you probably know. Many have tried including Scots teachers and friends.
As for feudal overlords, you were handed England on the death of Elizabeth the first, James the first chose to live in London, not Edinburgh, I wonder why?
Even Robert the Bruce played his cards on both sides of the border until he saw what his opportunities were. You could so easily have been the feudal overlords of England, but a succession of Stewarts mismanaged it.
If your Education system is so good why did the only Scots poet that is universally known use his own Dumfrieshire vernacular to write his poems?

Pastime, not pass time Yammy. And I’m English.

Yes, that's right. Our great education system helps us know how to speak the language of our feudal overlords.

I wonder why people have to correct your grammar so often?