Prescriptions

[ImLostAgain]

I took my pal to the doctors today. He's wheelchair bound and 73 so I accompanied him to the waiting room. The doctor had called him in to discuss his prescriptions. He has a fungal infection on his face and back. Anyway when I was wheeling him home he said they were going to try him on different creams. He's ok with that but he was told they are over the counter medicines.
He's asking me if that means he will have to pay for them. Although I think he will, I said I didn't know, for fear of upsetting him.He asked me why they would take him off prescription medicine and make him pay when he worked all his life and payed his dues. I honestly don't know what to tell him.
Can they do that? Why would they do that?

[bednobs]

yes, OTC mean he will pay
yes they can do it
why shouldn't he pay?

[Buenchico]

https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/medicines/why-cant-i-get-prescription-over-counter-medicine/

[davebro]

I think it's a bit insidious really. Many OTC medicines are quite expensive & some that used to be on prescription are now OTC. Free prescriptions for older folks (and for everyone in Wales & Scotland) could be a big cost saving for those on a limited budget needing regular medication.

[maggiebee]

Not sure how it works in the rest of the UK, but in Scotland we can register at a chemist for "minor ailments". This means that creams such as the OP mentions would be free as they are needed but not prescribed.

[davebro]

^^^^^ I think that may be the case in England too but from memory there's a lot of red tape involved & the pharmacists don't encourage it.

[ImLostAgain]

bednobs, why shouldn't he pay? I/he never said he shouldn't. I'm asking the question for him, nothing else.
Buenchico, I'll copy that and show him.
davebro, he is on a limited budget and although he's not complaining about paying I know he'll be a tad stretched.
Anyway, thanks all for your replies.

[grumpy01]

Why didn’t the Doctor place the OTC creams on Prescription thus replacing his usual creams?

[Buenchico]

It can certainly seem a bit crazy.

I had a simple fungal infection (jock itch), that I recognised myself and knew what had cured it in the past for me (clotrimazole = Canesten, which I'd bought over the counter). So I didn't need a doctor's help and I didn't need a prescription. However, when I tried to purchase it, the pharmacist told me that he couldn't sell it to me because I'm over 60 and it's not licensed for sale to my age group.

I asked the pharmacist if there was anything else that he could let me have, only to be told "Not without a prescription". So I then had to message my GP online, with an explanation of my problem, in order for him to issue a prescription for an alternative medication.

Thus my situation was exactly the reverse of the one that your friend is now facing. I was happy to pay for an over-the-counter anti-fungal medication but I wasn't allowed to!

[ImLostAgain]

Well there's a thing. I've just rang him to ask what he was on (after reading Buenchico's post and one of his creams is indeed Canesten!
I wonder what he'll get as a replacement.

[bednobs]

sorry if i seemed a bit stark. It was a response to your "why would they do that?" q.
In any case he'll have to get a prescription for canesten i presume if the GP wants him to have it

[davebro]

you can buy canesten on ebay - cheaper & no prescription needed.

[ImLostAgain]

No probs bednobs.
davebro, he doesn't do 'internet' lol. I'd do it for him if he wanted though. It never crossed my mind to try ebay. Ta for that.
He'll have to see what they give him instead of Canesten. I asked what the other cream was but I've already forgotten! Wonder if they have a cream for that :(

[sandra4444]

After reading this I do wonder if something is going on with some medications.
I've been using a cream that you cannot buy over the counter, you have to have a prescription.

I would be more than happy to pay for it if I could buy it OTC.
I went through the normal channels on line to order it, waited the advised time for it to be signed off, and delivery to the chemist, only to be told 10 days later that it hadn't be signed off. Rang the surgery about it only to be told I would have to make a routine appointment?

Now I can understand anyone taking hard drugs for them to be seen every now and again, but for this cream, makes no sense at all?

[barry1010]

Sandra, if you want to pay simply ask your GP for a private prescription

[gingejbee]

^ It's normal practice to have a medication review...you may be taking/using something that you no longer really need, or which has a better alternative.

[sandra4444]

That's not the point really barry. It don't make any sense that I should be taking / wasting appointment times just for a tube of cream, considering lots of people are finding it difficult to get a doctors time at all.
The other thing that confuses me is this is the first prescription I've had in years or asked for.

[gingejbee]

^I suspect , sandra, that's your answer. A good GP won't prescribe you something that you simply ask for...they'll want to see if you really need it, especially if you've not had it on prescription for a long time.

[sandra4444]

He gave me a prescription for this same cream on 2 previous requests. He already knows this is the only cream that works for me, when I went to see him a few months back.

[bednobs]

but if that was some years ago, i'm not surprised they want to see you. I'm also not too sure that GPs are expected to remember about which creams do and dont work for people over a number of years!

[sandra4444]

^^Months, not years. Don't doctors have files any longer then?