cancer…cost incured
cancer…cost incured Hi all
I have posted this on behalf of new user Scott
Moderator
Breast Cancer Care
Hi
hope you can help as i seem to be going around in circles. My mum has breast cancer and has had a few months of treatment at ashford hospital in middlesex. things aint brilliant but could be worse as far as her cancer goes.
However, been transferred to UCH for a different type of chemo staring today.
Only place that we could park (as there’s no free parking for day patients) cost me neraly £50 today. Whcih is a lot of money. Can i claim this back or get her a disabled badge for my car?
Also, the pharmacy had run out of a steriod she was pu on and i got given a normal chemist prescription whic we had to pay for…i’m worried this will be an ongoing thing 
i’ll pay/do anything for her but i do begrudge paying £50 a time just to park when she’s a teaching assistant on £6000 a year and has worked all her life and paied NI all her life (as have I)
can anyone help???
Scott
Unfortunately, a Disabled badge will be impossible to get. Lobby your MP - there is a move to try and introduce a “temporary disabled badge”, but it has not had much press so far.
re parking,
on their website: Macmillan have information on assistance for transport schemes and also a useful list of questions to put to hospitals.
As to the prescription, I had to pay for these in the hospital. Unless she is exempted, I cannot see that you/she will not have to pay for them, wherever you get them.
Macmillan is very concerned about these hidden costs - it might be worth talking to them.
Scott ask your Mum’s RT dept about parking fees. My RT dept gives a little card to place inside windscreen- hope you’ll get something similar.
Other ladies have had to pay chemist for steroids etc-yes it is a tooth gnasher.
People who have a lot of prescriptions can pay a yearly sum and then get meds without further charges. For those who have a lot it’s a big economy.Some ladies on this site will know more. Post a question about annual prescription payment.
Best wishes for your Mum’s treatment and getting parking/ prescription charges sorted, dilly
Hi Scott My hospital here in the NE have a 3 monthly parking ticket costing £13, my RT planner told me about it, and there were notices around the department, keep a look out .
Also try completeing an HC1 form, help with NHS costs, your mum may qualify for help with being on low income. Please get an NHS receipt for any medications you pay for, and if you are entitled to help, you can claim this money back
See here
dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidance/Medicinespharmacyandindustry/Prescriptions/NHScosts/DH_4049391
Best of luck
marge
xx
thanks phoebe I have posted this on behalf of scott
Kind regards
Forum Host
Breast Cancer Care
During this distressing time, finance is something that i don’t think we should be worried about. Just left a voicemail for the MP & PALS. I’ll let you know if the MP gets back to me. All the best, Scott
Hospital travel costs scheme Scott
There is also a Hospital travel costs scheme in Wales (not sure if it is the same everywhere else). This can allow eligible patients to claim their travelling expenses when they come to hospital for treatment. You have to be claiming certain benefits such as income support, working family tax credit, guaranteed pension credit etc. Your hospital reception should have information forms or you get can further information from MacMillan.
There are also MacMillan grants if you are incurring other costs - a Breast care nurse or a social worker could apply on your behalf (some hospitals have social workers on site that could help look at things like this for you).
Hope this information helps.
Hope the treatment goes well.
Adele
what about coming by public transport? I was at Barts and I always travelled by tube. There was no parking to speak of there. It wasn’t always that pleasant but I tried to avoid peak hours and I didn’t have to worry about congestion charges or whatever. I was fortunate in already having a zones 1-3 travel card but you could get oyster cards to save a bit.
Mole
Hi Scott Apply for a blue badge to help. Your Mum probably doesn’t qualify under normal rules but they can provide one on a discretionary basis for say 1 year. They are aware that cancer patients have a problem with parking so are usually happy to provide a badge if even for a shorter time but it does differ from council to council but hopefully they will be sympathetic.
Love Twinkle xoxo
When I wa being treated at a London hospital, all cancer patients or their transporters could get free parking permits. If ts is not the case at the hospital you attend then I’m sure Macmillan will help. Ask to see a Breast Cancer Care nurse and sheshould be able to help you.
I thought the ‘free parking’ for cancer patients was a nationwide scheme.
Kelly
no blue badge I applied for a blue badge but was refused as it was not a " permanent " condition! Suffering during treatment was not considered a permanent disability
You can get travel costs reimbursed if you are on jobseekers allowance, incabacity benefit, disability allowance, etc, not just low income.
Hospitals do sometimes offer transport, but this will not be private, you will have to share with others, and may have to make a huge detour in both directions depending on who else is with you.
All very unsaitfactory , I agree. I’m about to start 4 weeksof daily rads with a four hour round trip which includes paying tunnel tolls in both directions , and there are no allowances for that, either.
Goodluck
Photolady
benefit help hi scott
i just wondered if your mum had applied for benefits yet. i have been able to get a couple of benefits which have helped me to gain access to other things. your mum does seem to be in the wage bracket that could mean she is entitled to assistance like working tax credit which can then lead to free prescriptions . i think it is the best advice to see citizens advice. if there is a macmillan citizens advice then go to them. i was similar in that i had never claimed benefits before and had always worked, the lady at macmillan told me i was entitled to a number of things ,she also got us help from the macmillan fund which meant we could pay our bills untill the benefits came through. hope it all eases a bit for you both.
love nicci
I had 5 weeks of rads recently, the travel cost us £450 in diesel, parking and bridge tolls. We didn’t qualify for help as we are a little over the savings threshold for a Macmillan grant.
I can’t get any benefits as I took a year out of work to look after my late father when he developed dementia, unfortunately during that time I was sent down all the wrong routes with regards to carers benefits by the local Jobcentre and this led to a 3 month gap in my NI which has stuffed me for IB. We were also turned down for tax credits recently as they said my husband was over 25 and wasn’t working enough hours at the time we applied. He has a start up business and was only able to do 25 hours a week at the time due to ferrying me the 50 miles every day for rads.
As if having BC wasn’t stresful enough you are made to jump through hoops for everything else. At the beginning of the year I had a little upstart from the DWP tell me over the phone that BC was no excuse for trying to claim benefits, I was absolutely disgusted to say the least.
prescription charge Hi Scott,
Sorry to hear you are having all these problems. It is truly a nightmare.
It might be worth talking to your GP/Nurse practitioner about the cost of prescriptions and ask about a medical exemption certificate. It is all very arbitary and some wont sign the form (which they have), but you have nothing to lose. it saved me a fortune!
Hope all goes well with the treatment
Rheta
Ps, might be worth looking at the secondary forum as there is a paper there suggesting that all cancer patients with secondary diagnosis get free prescriptions. Your GP may look more favourably if you have the article with you!