hi all,
just discovered this to be true - ALL cancer patients as of April 1st 2009 are entitled to free prescritions - you need to fill in excemption cert from your Drs but this should then cover everything not just cancer drugs.
I went to collect two prescritions shortly after being diagnosed, the pharmacist asked if i payed for these and at the time i was not aware so as i was still working i had to fork out £14 - i think it is absolutely atrocious that people in the profession are not aware of recent government legislation!!
Hope this helps others a little.
Hi
There have been several postings on the forums awhile ago about free prescriptions since April 1st for patients being treated for cancer… I had my ‘exempt from payment card’ since mid March although had difficulty in getting the initial form to apply. Neither my chemo unit at the hospital nor the macmillan support office at the same hospital had forms in stock at that time. My lovely GP’s surgery telephoned me when they had the forms eventually delivered which I duly completed and left back for my GP to sign on a Monday and I had my exemption card back the following Thursday…Since then all my prescription items including non-cancer stuff has beeen ‘free’.
Lyn
Please get your facts right before you say all cancer patients prescriptions are free as they are not as we still have to pay for them all in scotland I had to pay £16 FOR MY PRESCRIPTIONS YESTERDAY It does make me so made when people keep saying they are free we are not so lucky here in scotland so please stop saying its free Linbob
I want to delete my post but I can’t so I have to fill this space with drivel so that I can submit the edit.
Why don’t we have a delete option?
I’ll start by apologising to linbob - however i did check my facts through the department of health website and was ignorant to the fact that this did not cover Scotland, so i’m sorry if my post has been misleading to others.
I have since swotted up a little on the situation in Scotland and i’m not sure if you are aware that you can apply for the following:
Prescription Prepayment Certificate
If you do not qualify for free prescriptions, consider buying a Prescription Prepayment Certificate for four months or a year. It will save you money if you need more than four prescriptions in three months or 14 items in one year.
Costs are as follows:
Charge for each prescribed item: £7.20. In Scotland: £4.00.
(For items prescribed in combination/duo packs there is a
prescription charge for each different drug in the pack)
Prescription Prepayment Certificate (PPC)
Three months: £28.25. In Scotland: £13.
Prescription Prepayment Certificate (PPC)
12 months: £104. In Scotland: £38.
How can I apply?
Fill in form FP95 (EC95 in Scotland), which you can get from your pharmacist. In Scotland, you can also get the form you need from your doctor or local NHS Board.
I came on this forum for this reason - to find out stuff that people don’t think to tell you, some things will be relevent to me some things won’t be. Everyones situation is different but the more information i find out the better prepared i feel, regardless of whether I benefit from it persoanlly or not - hopefully someone somewhere will - this is just my opinion.
Thanx
I have my exemption cert card and for the next 5 years I get my Tamoxifen prescriptions free. Why am I not feeling too happy???
Actually it covers other stuffs as well.
Get yours now!
Daisy