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Cautionary Tale re Prescription Charges

Rachox

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
17,517
Location
Oxford
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
This is a cautionary tale about prescription charges in England. My daughter’s fiancé has been type 1 diabetic since the age of 9, he’s now 26.

As a child til he was 18 and in full time education no prescription fees were charged.

He then moved to Cardiff for four years for Uni, so as in Wales you get prescriptions free, he continued not having to pay.

After Uni he moved to London and didn’t pay for prescriptions believing having diabetes made him exempt.

This week he received a £100 fine for non payment of prescription fees! He has never in four years been asked for proof of exemption when picking up his meds from the pharmacy.

He has appealed and thankfully they have withdrawn the fine. Now he has to pay for prescriptions until he receives his exemption certificate (which is actually a card!) and keep receipts so all the fees can be refunded once the card is in his possession.

What a ridiculous system! Surely a prescription of insulin cartridges, pens, Dexcoms, blood and ketone testing strips etc… makes it obvious he has diabetes and shouldn’t have to pay, yet he has to get a form from his GP to confirm his diagnosis then send it away to get a card saying what is obvious!
 
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This has always been the case for conditions that entitle you to free prescriptions, my hubby had to have an exemption certificate from 21 until 60 for epilepsy drugs, just be aware he will have to apply every five years but they do send you a reminder.

I was same for my Metformin until I hit 60
 
lovinglife said:
This has always been the case for conditions that entitle you to free prescriptions
Click to expand...
I knew this too, I had to have an exemption certificate from my type 2 diagnosis til 60. It’s just amazing that for four years no one told him! I assumed he had one and I guess all those pharmacists that dispensed his prescriptions did too, but never asked to see it.
 
Hi,

Sorry to hear about that, but as has been said it has always been the case.

However, you do not have to wait for the card to arrive. You can check on the following website if your hubby is now exempt :

Check if you have an NHS exemption | NHSBSA

Check if you have a valid NHS exemption and find out more about the certificates we issue.
www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk

The pharmacist shouldn't have to see anything, but there is an option on the above website to print your exemption.
 
Sounds right @Rachox I was only ever asked for mine once, Boots do put it on your records if you get your scripts regularly from there. I think he’s just been unfortunate in a random spot check at what ever government department does the checks
 
peterb999 said:
However, you do not have to wait for the card to arrive. You can check on the following website if your hubby is now exempt :
Click to expand...
Not my hubby, my daughter’s fiancé, but I’ll send him this link. Thanks.
 
Rachox said:
Not my hubby, my daughter’s fiancé, but I’ll send him this link. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Sorry about that, for some reason my brain told me it was your husband when I was typing the reply.
 
One other thing you need to watch out for is that they don't seem the best at updating their records for where they send the reminders.
I'm T1, but still need to renew every 5 years to reassure them I've not suddenly stopped being diabetic (I guess the optimism is good!). I'm surprised they stop bothering you after 60 instead of checking every 5 years to see if you've got younger.
When I moved, I updated my address with the GP and the hospital, but somehow that didn't reach the NHSBSA, and I didn't get any reminder.
 
Haha, "I'm surprised they stop bothering you after 60 instead of checking every 5 years to see if you've got younger", that made me laugh.

I've just checked the entitlement webpage for me and it's still got my old address even though every other part of the NHS has my correct address. I moved a year ago so it's quite annoying.

Edited to add - For anyone in the future, to update your address, you email nhsbsa.ppc1@nhsbsa.nhs.uk and they can do it for you. If you can, give them your full name, DOB, certificate number and NHS number. They should update your records in 2 working days.
 
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