Prescription Charges

I thought I would write a blog about this as, if like me you have never been ill (well, I thought I hadn't anyway!) you may not know what help or alternatives to prescription charges there are.

Last week I had to get my drugs on prescription for the first time as previously they had all been given to me at the hospital. I knew that the prescription charge is £7.20 but having never had lots of drugs I hadn't thought about whether this was per prescription or per item. Well, my prescription charge was £28.80 and I had enough medication for a month.

This is a huge amount of money when you consider that I am now going to be on several medications for the rest of my life so I have been looking to see if maybe there is any help available.

Well the first thing I have discovered is if I go onto dialysis and have a fistula or catheter fitted I can get a medical exemption certificate. That is good if I have to go onto dialysis, but as you know I am trying to avoid that!

Obviously if I was unemployed I would get them paid for! I will refrain from comment here!!

However, I have now discovered that there is a Prescription Prepayment Certificate. If you buy an annual certificate it is only £104.00 so anyone on more than two prescriptions per month is better off buying one of these as it works out at £8.67 per month. What is also good is you can pay monthly by direct debit.

It is great what is available when you find out about it, but what I am finding is that the information is not automatically told to you. When I got the prescription I had to see my GP as it is them that now prescribe my drugs, well why, as they know it is all new to me, didn't they hand me a leaflet and say you may want to consider this?

I know at the hospital there is a "Specialist Practitioner" whose job it is to help and support families. I have not seen her yet and don't know if there are any plans for me to see her, however, maybe she or the hospital should get some basic information together which would include basic information such as help with prescriptions. It could also include what other help is available.

It seems to me that, if you have a good look, there is lots of help and support out there which most people may not be aware of ;-)

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