A & E is no longer free!!

About two years ago my partner attended A&E and was given a prescription for painkillers, for which he was sent a bill as he couldn't pay at that time. He never paid and they never chased him for it. If you are handed the actual drugs within A&E you will not be charged, just at the pharmacy if you are given a prescription.
 
I got a bill for co-codamol prescribed at A and E throught the post, I thought that was a bit of a faff!

the prepaid cards do mean if you are on regular meds they don't really cost you that much. :)
 
As far as i am aware you have always had to pay for medication as an out patient. I had a serious injury 3 years ago and was given mediciation as part of my treatment as an outpatient and i had to pay for that. I came out of hospital 6 weeks ago after a big operation and a 3 day stay with medication that was free as it was prescribed from the ward i was on and given to me on being discharged. Having been back to the Dr's for repeat medication i have had to pay for my prescription. Not a problem just one of those things. To be honest i wouldn't have expected things any different and as a previous poster has put A&E is clogged up with non emergencies who most of the time just want a free prescription and to pass some time (whole other topic, but when i was in our A&E last year the amount of people that turned up with sandwiches and a book and were clearly out for the day and on being told they could go home by the triage nurse, replied that they would see them again next week!).
 
A/E depts I have worked in have charged for prescriptions.......one had a little 'stamp' machine - pts had to put the cash in, and they got a stamp- you took that from when giving out meds and stuck the stamp on the prescription to say it had been paid for.
 
cptrayes said:
Yes, I've paid for pain relief prescribed in A&E for a kidney stone and fulfilled at the hospital dispensary. It was five years ago too.

Anyone on repeat prescriptions noticed the 300% increase in charges this year??? I used to get 3 months on one prescription, now I only get 1, so I am paying 3 times as much.
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Why not get a prepayment prescription certificate then?
 
nikkiportia said:
Actually prescription charges are not cheap when you have to have regular medication.
Thats great comparing us to SA, but we are in the UK and we pay for the NHS!

I also had to recently pay for prescrption charges at hospital following an asthma attck, and was horrified.
I get very angry over who qualifies for free prescriptions and who doesn't. Some illnesses qualify and yet some, like asthma, don't.
If I gave up my job and sat on my backside, I'd get it all for free! Yet the working people are the ones who are paying for it through their taxes and NI already.
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A prepayment prescription certificate for ALL prescriptions costs £125 for a year. not exactly extortionate?! If I paid for my presciprions when I got them, then I'd be paying about £50a month. Instead I got a PPC for £125pa. bargain.
 
nikkiportia said:
Actually prescription charges are not cheap when you have to have regular medication.
Thats great comparing us to SA, but we are in the UK and we pay for the NHS!

I also had to recently pay for prescrption charges at hospital following an asthma attck, and was horrified.
I get very angry over who qualifies for free prescriptions and who doesn't. Some illnesses qualify and yet some, like asthma, don't.
If I gave up my job and sat on my backside, I'd get it all for free! Yet the working people are the ones who are paying for it through their taxes and NI already.
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Also unfair. I gave up my job, and even though I'm not working, I get absolutely no benefits or grants. I now get free prescriptions because I am pregnant, but if I wasn't, I'd still have to pay like anyone else. (OH is now sole breadwinner).
 
tbh i don't mind paying for subscriptions at all
after watching 'Sicko' by michael moore i will never ever complain about the UK system again
thank **** i live here and thank **** i did not need medical attention when i spent a season hunting over there - v v lucky escape
 
I am on several regular meds so I have a pre-payment certificate, which is about £27 for three months. Some of the tablets I get I know cost pennies but then sometimes I have to have injectable Imigran twice a day at around £45 per shot so it is swings and roundabouts.
 
One of the drugs I've been on / am starting again is £2000 a pop!

Thank goodness for the NHS :D

I've never had to pay for prescriptions in A&E , although all the times I've gone I've been of school age , so that's probably why?

Tbf , a £7 charge really isn't too unreasonable for your treatment is it? Think of people in places without free healthcare and realise how good we have it here!
 
I've always paid for prescriptions when I've gone into A&E and been sent home but haven't paid for prescriptions given upon discharge as part of admitted treatment i.e scheduled ops where they know you'll still hurt when you go home, if that makes sense?! Tbh, I would always expect to pay for prescriptions if I have to go to A&E and am not admitted.
 
Happy Horse said:
I am on several regular meds so I have a pre-payment certificate, which is about £27 for three months. Some of the tablets I get I know cost pennies but then sometimes I have to have injectable Imigran twice a day at around £45 per shot so it is swings and roundabouts.
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If any tablets on your prescriptions are available without a prescription (e.g. paracetamol) you can always opt not to get that item through a prescription but buy it over the counter instead :)
 
Last summer I was given a pack of codene (sp) painkillers to take home and was never charged for them?

Weird... maybe something has changed? Or maybe because I am a student?
 
Yes, you have had to pay for years! Last time I went was five years ago and I was billed for my prescription of pain killers.
 
I have been to A&E many a time over the last few years (long story, long standing condition) & I have never been charged for drugs they have given me to take home, nor have I been billed for them. If you go into hospital & are given drugs there I thought they met the charge for those drugs?? Having worked in a hospital accounts department before that is always how it was & the PCT paid for those drugs that were administered in hospital. I would never expect to pay for drugs given to me at hospital - whether I am a case in A&E or otherwise!
 
BrambleandMonty said:
Why not get a prepayment prescription certificate then?
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Because my prescription currently costs around £80 a year and prepayment is £125.

I'm not complaining about the cost, I am pointing out a THREE HUNDRED PERCENT increase in just over twelve months that never got publicised.
 
I went into A&E about 6 weeks ago with cracked ribs and they gave me painkillers to take away - no charge. And i'm in my 20s and not a student so can't be any reason like that!
 
Personally, I am pleased they are cracking down on this loophole! Far too many people go strolling into A & E because they cannot be bothered to go to their doctor and they think they will be medicated for free.

Not saying that you were anywhere near that type of person because you were very obviously badly injured but whenever I have gone in there it is full of foreigners with coughs and colds!

If that makes me sound like a racist then so bit it because I know that I certainly am not!
 
Gosh, I didnt realise that and, had it just been for painkillers then I would have told them to stick it quite frankly and would have gone to get them from the chemist for less. I mean what, prescriptions are now £7 something. ok, doesn't sound much until you're paying for regular drugs (like inhalers etc like myself) and then it all adds up. My asthma nurse keeps telling me to get the preventative as opposed to the the ventolin inhaler but sorry, I cannot afford to do that as well.

What grates on me is that the likes of contraception is free, smoking and drug help if free yet prescriptions for illnesses you did not bring on yourself and are life long are NOT free and also they decide that some are and some aren't. ie - asthma - not free, diabetic treatment - free (according to my docs!).

Aaanyway, I shall get off my soapbox! :-)
 
moana said:
About two years ago my partner attended A&E and was given a prescription for painkillers, for which he was sent a bill as he couldn't pay at that time. He never paid and they never chased him for it. If you are handed the actual drugs within A&E you will not be charged, just at the pharmacy if you are given a prescription.
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This not quite true where I went as I was sat on the hospital bed when they gave me the drugs - I never went to a pharmacy. I guess it must depend on which PCT you are with and like I said I was not charged the last time for similar drugs so I guess they have tightened their belts like everyone else. I would never dream of going to hospital unless necessary. I also pay through the nose for my asthma and anti depressants.
 
Actually, the more I think about it the more I think why should you pay if you are being treated in A&E? Why do they cnharge you for painkillers there and then? Sure if you maybe have to go back to the docs for a repeat, maybe that is acceptable but not at the hospital?

Do they charge you when you are given drugs to relive the pain when giving birth? I believe not! Do they charge you for anaesthetic used hen performing an operation? Hmm, not to my knowledge. Therefore actually why do they charge you for painkillers when you are still IN the hospital or leaving it?

I am actually in disagreement. It's either free treatment or it isn't in my mind. We allpay towards it. Well most of us anyway. I think I've paid my share for a facility I rarely use - think twice in my whole life!
 
I ended up in A&E on the way home from a skiing holiday with a sprained neck and tonsilitius was given antibiotics and not charged for them. When I was discharged after an op in Septemeber I was given a bag of medication FOC including enough paracetemol to stun an elephant
 
May I provide some clarification to this thread??

This is in fact a fairly recent issue, which was introduced across England in 2005 as part of the government plans at the time.

As a patient admitted to hospital or as a walk in - the charges will apply ONLY when the patient is prescribed via a written NHS Prescription sheet. At this point the patient as the choice to accept the script or refuse the supply.
Normal prescription charges apply and if you normally pay the NHS charges, then you are expected to pay as normal.

IF the drugs are provided at the bed side / as part of a course of emergency treatment / or without consent because your poorly. NO charge will apply in any of these circumstances.
The charges as a general rule only apply for pain killers that are scripted for patient comfort on discharge from hospital (same as when scripted by your own GP)

There is no underlying reason for the introduction, it just brings into line the fact that scripts issued in hospital are charged the same as any other issue script elsewhere in the NHS.

For the person mentioning the charge in relation to the car incident.
You attended with the person involved and so you were charged the standard fee for Road Traffic incidents. A tip - never be so kind as to move an injured person in your own vehicle it leaves you liable for many many costs.
 
Odd, I broke my finger lungeing 6 months ago and they gave me pills for free, wapped myself in the eye with a leadrope last week and was charged for eye ointment, random.

Maybe it's just prescription drugs they charge for and they can hand out ibuprofen for free
 
cptrayes said:
Yes, I've paid for pain relief prescribed in A&E for a kidney stone and fulfilled at the hospital dispensary. It was five years ago too.

Anyone on repeat prescriptions noticed the 300% increase in charges this year??? I used to get 3 months on one prescription, now I only get 1, so I am paying 3 times as much.
Click to expand...


Get the prepayment card - I save HUNDREDS of pounds a year by doing this - but it's NOT well advertised and the chemist NEVER tells you about it!!
 
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