OT: Superdrug and online prescriptions

Or at any high street/supermarket pharmacy. They prefer it if you rip the identifying labels off them first for data protection reasons. (otherwise they will have to do it)

Only possible exceptions are restricted opiates where they may need to be able to account for what was issued to which patient and what came back. You also get asked "any CD's or sharps?".

First time I asked in a puzzled tone "CD's?" (not compact disks) = Controlled Drugs.

Ramipril costs the NHS £1.46 per "item", presumably an item is a prescription. This being the NHS, they aren't clear, but I see no logical reason an item, in this general context, should be classified as a 28-day pack as opposed to a prescription (normally 2 monthly).

In the past, I have seen annual supply statistics broadly consistent with this figure.

Obviously I can't comment on your example as you haven't specified what your medication is.

Yes, I support restricting antibiotics, making them prescription. It would be sensible if we didn't routinely use them in farming, but we do, and they aren't on my list of most prescribed drugs anyway.

Good accountancy, is all about making clear the efficacy and costs of specific treatments. Good accountancy will expose a false economy.

Poor accountancy is all about being vague and non-specific.

For most common drugs there is a "basic price" precisely specified in the Drug Tariff[1] issued monthly under statutory authority. The prices are listed for the quantity supplied (e.g. 28 tablets, 30 capsules) not per prescription.

But you do need to be equally precise about the drug given there are often many options.

There is of course then the fee paid to the dispenser on top of that. So I don't think it is reasonable to assume that an individual buying without a prescription would get the drug at the basic price in the tariff. Pharmacies have costs and need to make a return on capital.

ooops, forgot to add

On 07/07/2022 14:22, Pancho wrote: ...

An item, in the context of pricing, is one unit of issue. In the case of most drugs, that is a pack of 28 pills. In the case of the Heaf Test heads I used to supply to the NHS, it was a box of 125 heads. In the case of an asthma inhaler, it will be one inhaler.

To confuse matters, when patients pay for a prescription, they are charged per item, which in that context means each different drug or product on the prescription. Hence three packs of 28 pills is one prescription item for the patient charge, but three items for pricing purposes. OHO if, as I used to have, the prescription has two different strengths of pill, in my case 2mg and 4mg, then those both count as a single prescription item for charging the patient, but three packs of each will be six items, probably at two different prices, for pricing purposes.

On 07/07/2022 13:35, charles wrote: ...

My GP used to encourage this, as his surgery had an arrangement with a charity that would send anything useable to third world countries. He has since retired and I don't know if they still do it.

I use Pharmacy2u for my monthly NHS prescription. I am old enough for it to be free. There has been a recent change to the way the prescriptions work. I think the medical practice now issue a years worth of prescriptions.

Although not NHS costs, buying on line it's approx £13 for 2 months supply of the lowest dosage pills and approx £16 for the higher dose.

It does work out a lot cheaper than prescription for a 4 or 6 month supply in one go assuming that a private prescription can be obtained for that number.

Often people get started on lower doses but often/usually the dosage is increased. A two month prescription may end up as 28x4 tablets or possibly more if a tablet has multiple times a day.

You can also get a 3 month PPC.

Is this actually cheaper?

Most prescriptions are for 2 months and will cost <£10 per prescription

Their price is (from) £20 for 3 months and (from) £25 for 6 months and possibly assumes minimum dose taken once daily. If you need a stronger dose or take the tablets twice daily it could work out more expensive.

I don’t recall if you get a refund or you can buy a short one ( eg 9 mth). It is one of the two.

You can't even buy a years worth of paracetamol at your local shop - assuming it is something you use regularly. For safety reasons.

When I had a business cash and carry card, I could buy as many trays of

If you want to introduce the Drug Tariff, why not quote the actual price. For the example I gave:

Here it is:

Ramipril 96p for 28x2.5 mg, 107p for 28x10mg.

This appears consistent with a per prescription price of £1.43 (given in the cite I posted elsewhere in this thread), (presumably some prescriptions are 1 month as well as 2 month)

Simvastatin is even cheaper.

So my original claim of popular drugs cost the NHS about £12 a year was a reasonable estimate for the purposes of this discussion. Why people feel the need to have introduced vague and unsourced contradictions is a disappointment.

Yes, in a capitalist world, we would expect a mark-up for goods. These drugs have an incredibly consistent customer base and a huge shelf life, so I wouldn't expect 450% mark-up.

In a "free" health service, one would expect more, but then, I guess, we wouldn't expect Catholic priests to abuse choir boys.

I did when I became exempt due to cancer.

And I believe you can buy four month ones.

I was told by my surgery 8 weeks worth was the normal limit.

I was told I could only have 1 month's worth (my medications have remained the same for 4 years) as it would save teh practice £250,000 and would enable tehm to employ more GPs. The number of GPs has dropped!

I struggled to get my last one on time as they changed their computer system and couldn't do online scripts for over a week. They won't do telephone requests and didn't give any advance notice.

Can I ask what member of your surgery staff told you that?

I must be very lucky - even with a very busy inner London practice. Always been able to get through on the phone - but obviously avoid peak times. Their online repeat prescription system (etc) seems to be third party run and works very well. They are also very good at notifying me about flu jabs etc by SMS. I'd guess an automated system - hardly difficult to do these days.