Prescription Charges

[Hilary B]

The other side of the 'free prescription' argument is that (according to one newspaper at least) some old people are being routinely prescribed drugs for blood-pressure, high collesterol, etc when a lot of them don't need these things........

[miffy]

The NHS has been gradually going down the pan for the last ten years, my mum, dad, sister and Mr Miffy all have worked in various roles. There are too many managers and not enough money being spent on patient care, i.e nurses, cleaners and post op and patient care. Mr Miffy cut his hand open last week and they actually gave him bandages to dress it himself when it got dirty, bit tricky one handed!! I think it is awful people have to pay for drugs that they need for long term conditions, not right.
Drugs companies go into hospitals and court the staff, taking them food, freebies etc to try and get them to use their drugs, much better for them to let the health service have them at a reasonable cost!!

[DavidM31]

I used to work in a hospital pharmacy, and it really used to annoy me when women used to hand over their prescription for IVF treatment and not pay as they were on benefits.
I'm all for the right to have children and to get IVF treatment, but there is something wrong when everyone else has to pay for that person to get pregnant and then have to pay for the child to be brought up when it is born. I wouldn't dream of having children if I couldn't afford to bring them up.
I know that's generalising and there will be genuine cases but the ones I'm on about... well lets just say they have probably never worked and have no intention of working ever if possible.

I could not believe what I was reading in your post, that these benefit scroungers even get IVF treatment for free. There is no way anybody should even contemplate having a baby unless they have the means to support that child. Maybe all benefit cheats should be sterilised, and I am also told that anyone on Thyroxine for thyroid problems also get all other meds free of charge. Some of the rules in this country are just plain daft, surely prescription charges should be related to your ability to pay for them, and not government policy.

Diabetics get all meds free,why? its onlt heir diabetes thats possibly life threatening, they should pay for anything else they need.

I am off to take out my frustration in the garden.

[Alison]

Diabetics get all meds free,why? its onlt heir diabetes thats possibly life threatening, they should pay for anything else they need.

Because they are more likely to get other illnesses than a "normal" healthy person. Or in some cases, they would have more problems if they get certain illness.

[selfheal]

it does frustrate me that people with lifelong conditions that require medication such as asthma etc dont get the relevant medications free.

I have asthma, i have also had an intollerable skin condition for the last 2 years-my skin has become allergic to touch and pressure, i come out in extremely painful and itchy rashes, even on my eyeballs. i have to take 2 types of antihistomenes daily for it.

in the last month for 3 weeks i thought i had been diagnosed with a lifelong incureable condition that was going to require massive amounts of steroids and other medications to get it under control and most likely medication for the rest of my life to manage it. Fidning out about other people who had it i was surprised by the cocktail of drugs they need to take constantly to lead semi normal lives- preventing them from having potential heart failure and destroying all the joints in their bodies. Yet they have to pay for all these drugs on prescription.

I have since been told they dont think i have this condition.

i feel its a little unfair that diabetics can get their medications paid for and people with conditions like the one i thought i may have and many other conditions dont.

I was very fortunate that when i moved to university in wales 3 1/2yrs ago i became eligable for free prescriptions as a young person under 25- this is something i feel would be good to be rolled out in England too. i lived back in england for one year and the sudden extra costs of my medications hit me hard as i was working fulltime unpaid for my uni course with only half a student loan. During my final year in wales they made all prescriptions free.

thankfully when i left wales my dr gave me something like a 6 month supply of medication for my skin and updated all my asthma meds. The dr back in england also prescribes me in a decent 3 month chunk which helps me, as im on incapacity benefit and DLA and still pay prescriptions. I havent applied for the low income prescriptions as i live with my parents who both earn and my incapacity benefit is around £73 a week when my income support threshold at 21 is only £47 a week..... i doubt i would qaulify.


Generally i can see why we pay for prescriptions, but i think it is very wrong that english taxes are paying for welsh people to have free prescriptions- it should be fair across the board. either we all get free prescriptions and pay for it in taxes, or the welsh taxes pay for the welsh health service and english taxes pay for english services!