Monthly drug prescriptions

[El Perro Negro]

Hi there people and Happy New Year to all,

 

Just a quick question for all you Continuous Cruisers out there that hopefully can help me out with my future plans. If everything goes well I now have a buyer for my house here in Spain and will be able to make the move to buy a NB and start life back in the UK as a C. Cruiser.

 

Six months ago I had a 'slight' heart attack...if there is such a thing...resulting in me having to take 5 different drugs every day, and possibly for life. Everything is now OK health wise and I will have a 'base address' with my family. I shall be able to register with a Doctor before I set off afloat. My question is how do I organise a monthly supply of essential drugs I need as I will be moving around the canal system ?

 

Any advise will be warmly received and put to rest just one of my many...how do I do that....questions.

 

Keep well and warm and thanks in anticipation.

 

Tony

[john6767]

There are some tips on that on the Narrowboat Epiphany web site.

[Angel]

Hi there people and Happy New Year to all,

 

Just a quick question for all you Continuous Cruisers out there that hopefully can help me out with my future plans. If everything goes well I now have a buyer for my house here in Spain and will be able to make the move to buy a NB and start life back in the UK as a C. Cruiser.

 

Six months ago I had a 'slight' heart attack...if there is such a thing...resulting in me having to take 5 different drugs every day, and possibly for life. Everything is now OK health wise and I will have a 'base address' with my family. I shall be able to register with a Doctor before I set off afloat. My question is how do I organise a monthly supply of essential drugs I need as I will be moving around the canal system ?

 

Any advise will be warmly received and put to rest just one of my many...how do I do that....questions.

 

Keep well and warm and thanks in anticipation.

 

Tony

[Smelly]

A lot of chemists will accept faxed prescriptions these days, otherwise I've known decent GPs post prescriptions to the local pub, although I'm sure they'd prefer healthier establishments such as post offices.

[STUBAG]

Hi there people and Happy New Year to all,

 

Just a quick question for all you Continuous Cruisers out there that hopefully can help me out with my future plans. If everything goes well I now have a buyer for my house here in Spain and will be able to make the move to buy a NB and start life back in the UK as a C. Cruiser.

 

Six months ago I had a 'slight' heart attack...if there is such a thing...resulting in me having to take 5 different drugs every day, and possibly for life. Everything is now OK health wise and I will have a 'base address' with my family. I shall be able to register with a Doctor before I set off afloat. My question is how do I organise a monthly supply of essential drugs I need as I will be moving around the canal system ?

 

Any advise will be warmly received and put to rest just one of my many...how do I do that....questions.

 

Keep well and warm and thanks in anticipation.

 

Tony

Would have thought that your G.P. would the best person to ask. Good luck for the future.

[Angel]

Hi Tony

 

Well what a good question

 

my answer and what I do is always carry my repeat prescription, go to the nearest doctors register as a visitor, see the the doctor and get the prescription then go to the chemist.

A big hassle.

 

If I'm away from my home town for two months my doctor will give me double meds if I ask him, never had any problem.

 

Good look with every thing

 

Angel

[nwhear]

If you explain your situation to your GP and if your condition is stable he/she will I am sure be happy to give you a 3 or 4 mounths supply on each repeat which make life a lot easier - mine does this.

[El Perro Negro]

There are some tips on that on the Narrowboat Epiphany web site.

 

Thanks John a really useful link and blog..its seems to be quite possible to do, just have to plan forward a bit....Thanks

[BruceinSanity]

A lot of chemists will accept faxed prescriptions these days, otherwise I've known decent GPs post prescriptions to the local pub, although I'm sure they'd prefer healthier establishments such as post offices.

 

Mine (Alrewas) will post the prescription direct to the chemist. I just post a repeat request to the surgery with an SAE for the next chemist I'll be near. If that goes wrong (once in eight years) I go to the nearest GP and register as a TR.

[El Perro Negro]

Would have thought that your G.P. would the best person to ask. Good luck for the future.

 

Thanks....yes will get my family to check out for me with the local surgery..seems to be the way forward

Tony

 

Hi Tony

 

Well what a good question

 

my answer and what I do is always carry my repeat prescription, go to the nearest doctors register as a visitor, see the the doctor and get the prescription then go to the chemist.

A big hassle.

 

If I'm away from my home town for two months my doctor will give me double meds if I ask him, never had any problem.

 

Good look with every thing

 

Angel

 

Thank you Angel...gosh so many replies and help within minuets of posting> it looks as though the good old Brit NHS system is able to cope with those without a permanent address...wish the Spanish system was a bit more flexible.... although I cant fault the service over here its proved to be excellent

[Chalky]

I have to take a regular medication to control my asthma. I've been registered with 2 different doctors, both of which operated a different system.

1 would write 6 months worth of prescriptions and they could be sent to the local chemist. When I ran out I just turned up at the chemist and got a months supply. It meant that I had to use the same chemist and pay each month however it avoided trips to the doctor for a repeat prescription.

The other doctor writes a 2 month prescription which means I have to collect it but it's only every 2 months.

[El Perro Negro]

Thanks everyone for your time and help. I wish I'd had such a quick response to my 'house for sale advert' I've quickly learnt that it appears to be down to the system the specific home surgery has in place.. i'll get it checked out...oh and a good supply of envelopes and stamps..

 

How much is a regular prescription these days...for the under 65's that is.... Here, in Spain, I have to pay 40% of the drug costs and for my 5 I have to take, every month I end up paying 26 Euros (£20)...I seem to remember when I was last in the UK there was a sort of 'season ticket' which worked out cheaper if you had to take multiple meds every month?

 

Tony

[Rich]

my answer and what I do is always carry my repeat prescription, go to the nearest doctors register as a visitor, see the the doctor and get the prescription then go to the chemist.

A big hassle.

 

My wife and I have been getting repeat pres. for some six years doing it just this way. If you are a liveaboard you probably won't be pushed for time, we aren't, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

 

What I would say is to check with the surgeries before making appointments to see how how many weeks they will prescribe for. Occasionally you can come across one that will only give one weeks supply, on one occasion even less. You can make a choice then either to move on or accept their decision, depending on how urgent your need.

 

Three further points. Always ask for your repeat pres back, sometimes they get binned. Plan ahead and don't leave it to the last minute and if you have something unusual which may not be in stock call in a local chemist, show them your repeat pres to check if they have them in stock. Quite often if they aren't in stock they will order them on the evidence of your repeat pres so that when you get the repeat you can collect straight away.

 

Most surgeries are very helpful, some don't want to see you, just the repeat pres. Chemists are usually helpful. Good luck, it is nowhere near as bad as it might seem.

[BEngo]

Thanks everyone for your time and help. I wish I'd had such a quick response to my 'house for sale advert' I've quickly learnt that it appears to be down to the system the specific home surgery has in place.. i'll get it checked out...oh and a good supply of envelopes and stamps..

 

How much is a regular prescription these days...for the under 65's that is.... Here, in Spain, I have to pay 40% of the drug costs and for my 5 I have to take, every month I end up paying 26 Euros (£20)...I seem to remember when I was last in the UK there was a sort of 'season ticket' which worked out cheaper if you had to take multiple meds every month?

 

Tony

 

 

If you are under 60, (or maybe its under the harmonised state pension age of about 61 these days but rising)it's £7-65 per item per prescription, but a pre-payment card for 12 months (which you can order on-line) is just over £100. Usually goes up in April. Over the pension age prescription drugs are free.

 

N

[El Perro Negro]

If you are under 60, (or maybe its under the harmonised state pension age of about 61 these days but rising)it's £7-65 per item per prescription, but a pre-payment card for 12 months (which you can order on-line) is just over £100. Usually goes up in April. Over the pension age prescription drugs are free.

 

N

 

Thats useful, thanks. Am 60 this year, so looks as though I will be doing the pre-payment thingy....£38.25 for my prescriptions will be a hefty chunk per month.

Tony

[NickF]

Mine (Alrewas) will post the prescription direct to the chemist. I just post a repeat request to the surgery with an SAE for the next chemist I'll be near. If that goes wrong (once in eight years) I go to the nearest GP and register as a TR.

 

If I can answer this as a pharmacist. I would agree with Bruceinsanity ... if you can get your GP to post the prescription to the Pharmacy of your choice that is the easiest and mosts GPs will do this if you send an SAE with your repeat request. Faxes are a bit tricky as the pharmacist must be sure he/she will get the actual hard copy of the prescription within 72 hours and this is sometimes a bit tricky with a patient from a long way away with a doctor who also is not local.

 

Give the pharmacy you have chosen a ring a few days before the prescription arrives then at least they know what is going on when it gets there.

 

I hope your plan works out and the sale of your house goes through soon!

 

NickF

 

Thats useful, thanks. Am 60 this year, so looks as though I will be doing the pre-payment thingy....£38.25 for my prescriptions will be a hefty chunk per month.

Tony

 

You can get a three month pre-payment as well .... may be a better idea if the sixtieth birthday is not too far away!

 

NickF

[davidc]

I use boot's service for my long term prescriptions you can change which one of there chemists to pick up from, My doctors give me two monthly prescriptions.

 

boots

[El Perro Negro]

If I can answer this as a pharmacist. I would agree with Bruceinsanity ... if you can get your GP to post the prescription to the Pharmacy of your choice that is the easiest and mosts GPs will do this if you send an SAE with your repeat request. Faxes are a bit tricky as the pharmacist must be sure he/she will get the actual hard copy of the prescription within 72 hours and this is sometimes a bit tricky with a patient from a long way away with a doctor who also is not local.

 

Give the pharmacy you have chosen a ring a few days before the prescription arrives then at least they know what is going on when it gets there.

 

I hope your plan works out and the sale of your house goes through soon!

 

NickF

 

 

 

You can get a three month pre-payment as well .... may be a better idea if the sixtieth birthday is not too far away!

 

NickF

 

Thanks NickF. Direct from the ' pharmacists ' mouth so to speak, much appreciated. Now I just have to figure out if the sale proceeds will be enough to buy a nice boat that needs absolutely nothing doing to it for 5 years ! ! !

 

I use boot's service for my long term prescriptions you can change which one of there chemists to pick up from, My doctors give me two monthly prescriptions.

 

boots

 

Thanks davidc another good bit of information to put in my ' sorted ' folder.. Tony

[Old git]

Hi there people and Happy New Year to all,

 

Just a quick question for all you Continuous Cruisers out there that hopefully can help me out with my future plans. If everything goes well I now have a buyer for my house here in Spain and will be able to make the move to buy a NB and start life back in the UK as a C. Cruiser.

 

Six months ago I had a 'slight' heart attack...if there is such a thing...resulting in me having to take 5 different drugs every day, and possibly for life. Everything is now OK health wise and I will have a 'base address' with my family. I shall be able to register with a Doctor before I set off afloat. My question is how do I organise a monthly supply of essential drugs I need as I will be moving around the canal system ?

 

Any advise will be warmly received and put to rest just one of my many...how do I do that....questions.

 

Keep well and warm and thanks in anticipation.

 

Tony

 

Hi,

I hope you improve more than me.........I bet its Ramapril, Spironolactone, Aspirin, Digoxin and Bisoprolol, and just perhaps Simvastatin.

My doctor will send it to any chemist That I ask him too with a couple of days notice !, or do I just have a good Doc ?

 

Old git

[sharpness]

If you are under 60, (or maybe its under the harmonised state pension age of about 61 these days but rising)it's £7-65 per item per prescription, but a pre-payment card for 12 months (which you can order on-line) is just over £100. Usually goes up in April. Over the pension age prescription drugs are free.

 

N

It is free from your 60th birthday!! its the only plus I've found so far.

 

Steve

[sueb]

I order repeat prescriptions online from our doctor.

[tillergirl]

any reason why these cannot be emailed in this day and age?

[by'eck]

When I explained I spent a large part of the year out of the country I was able to persuade my doctor to issue three months worth of my prescription at a time, which I believe is the max they are allowed.

 

Now I'm back permanently in the UK but still living on a boat, I found that asking for two months at a time was not objected to and is now automatically repeated.

[BruceinSanity]

It is free from your 60th birthday!! its the only plus I've found so far.

 

Steve

 

 

When Maureen Lipman collected her first free prescription after turning 60, she came out of the chemist to find a bunch of kids in hoodies hanging about. She went up to them, shook the bag under their noses and said "Look... free drugs! And I get them because I'm OLD!"

 

 

 

[Rich]

It is free from your 60th birthday!! its the only plus I've found so far.

 

Steve

 

Don't you get a winter fuel allowance?