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Australian visiting England

T

TravelerTrev

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Hello, I plan to visit the UK early in 2013 for a couple of months. I am lucky enough to be able to travel regularly but generally never for longer than 4 -5 weeks because of my need to carry insulin. I assume that I will be able to purchase insulin while I am in the UK ( I use NovoRapid and Lantus Solostar) but not sure what I will need to do this.

Can someone advise me if

1: I require a prescription from both my doctor here in Australia and one from a Doctor in the UK to enable me to purchase insulin OR can it be just purchased over the counter from a Chemist?

2: If NovoRapid and Lantus Solostar are available in the UK.

3: An indication of the cost involved to purchase these products?

Thanks for any assistance.

Trevor
 
TravelerTrev said:
Hello, I plan to visit the UK early in 2013 for a couple of months. I am lucky enough to be able to travel regularly but generally never for longer than 4 -5 weeks because of my need to carry insulin. I assume that I will be able to purchase insulin while I am in the UK ( I use NovoRapid and Lantus Solostar) but not sure what I will need to do this.

Can someone advise me if

1: I require a prescription from both my doctor here in Australia and one from a Doctor in the UK to enable me to purchase insulin OR can it be just purchased over the counter from a Chemist?

2: If NovoRapid and Lantus Solostar are available in the UK.

3: An indication of the cost involved to purchase these products?

Thanks for any assistance.

Trevor
Click to expand...
Hi Trevor,
I put these questions to my son. He works in a pharmacy at Boots here in the UK. Here are his answers:

1. You don't need your Australian prescription to get insulin here, but it might help if you do have it with you. An Australian prescription would act as a private prescription here, but that would mean that you would pay for the insulin on prescription (you can't buy it over the counter without the prescription). However, you would be entitled to visit an emergency/NHS drop-in centre (generally located at NHS hospitals) to obtain a UK NHS prescription that will give you the ability to get the insulin at ANY pharmacy in the UK free of charge, as diabetics are exept from prescription charges in the UK

2. Both Novorapid and Lantus Solostar are available as pre-filled disposable pens and in cartridges.

3. The cartridges and pre-filled pens are about £20 per item, usually issued in packs of 5, so around £100 for a pack. But, as mentioned above , these would be free if you obtain them on an NHS prescription.

Hope that helps you.
 
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