General Chat

The cost of prescription charges in England will rise by 20p to £7.85 from 1 April, the government has announced.

Seems that with all the attention on the Eastleigh by-election this was a good time to announce this ;-)

Dental charges going up as well. :-( :-( :-( :-( :-(

we don't pay in Wales - anyway, age-wise I wouldn't have to pay anyway

Is there a cap on the cost you have to pay?

I have 7 continuous repeat items now plus another 3 which are 'as and when needed'. I don't pay as I live in Wales.

Sue

I have the same amount as Supercrutch, including 2 Diabetic meds, and Morphine. I get mine free as they are age related. I am in England.


Julia in Derbyshire

Discrimination against the English by our racist governnments again as usual.

If you are on diabetic meds you can qualify for an exepmption cert which then applies to all your medication.

Apparently 90% of prescriptions are dispensed without charge anyway.

Lee, Not standing up for government but Discrimination has nothing to do with it and as for your comment "racist government" You obviously have no idea what your talking about.

Roy

Scotland and Ireland get them free aswell I think.

I get mine free for not being able to go out on my own, but as I normally only have one prescription every two months, its not going to break the bank.

OH had a pre payment card £100 ish a year but he has now turned 60 so he does'nt pay either

Lee, the health services in Wales and England are completely separate entities governed by their respective countries, each totally independent of the other. Each makes its own rules so there's no opportunity for "racism" on the part of either.

Spot on, Roy.

Jax - it is N. Ireland - not Ireland, different country!!

I'm one of the 10% who has to pay :-(

Luckily, so far, I and OH have been healthy and I count this as a blessing :-)

the scots the irish and the welsh don't pay for meds, then why do the English pay ? again discrimination by our goverment, if they can put it up for the English they can also abolish the charge for the English.

Welcome back Lee, another stunning post from you :-D :-D which added tremendously to the discussion.

he has a point
but i dont pay for mine due to been diabetic :-( :-(

Lee it is not the Government's fault it is the fact there is no English Parliament.

There was a plan to have regional parliaments but when they had a referendum about it in the North East it was rejected and so the rest of us never got to choose.

I still have to pay for mine, but use the prepay card, so makes it much chaeper.

Andy

Lee we have devolved parliament/government which means that decisions can be made in each of those countries. That is the whole point of devolution.
How can it be discrimination?

I don't want a Regional Government, I want an English Government, or failing that, not allowing Scottish, N Ireland or Welsh MPs to vote on topics which 'only' relate to England within the Parliament at Westminster.

Anyway - prescriptions. Although I'd be shooting myself in the foot, does anyone else think that the age related 'free' prescriptions qualification should be raised in line with the female retirement age? In April 2013, it would be roughly 63.

I have a couple of items on Repeat Prescription to be asked for when needed. The Surgery staff are very good and put them x2 so that only one set of charges are made for each medicine. Financially it isn't worth me getting a prepay card.

I Live in wales and dont pay for prescriptions but i rarely visit the doctor,i dont agree with wales not paying charges,because the money goes back into the n.h.s and they need it at the moment.but as most people have said,its our parliament or senedd that makes the rules for wales.wales uses its money from the senedd how it wishes. :-)