Travis

   
Soapbox moment
Sunny
Posts: 1018
Sunny Posted Tue 10 Jul, 2012 7:44 PM Quote
£7.65!!

The price of a prescription in England! It's gone up 25p in the past year or so. When's it gonna stop?

I don't understand how Scotland and Wales manage to have free prescriptions. How? Where does the money come from? Well, it feels like it's coming from my pocket at the moment ...

Currently my GP is having to - for want of a better phrase - dick around with my prescription to "try" different tablet strengths and I'm paying for tablets that make me feel like shit and end up changing within a friggin' fortnight.

 
Re: Soapbox moment
Scottish Dubliner
Posts: 8299
Scottish Dubliner Posted Tue 10 Jul, 2012 8:30 PM Quote
Prescription charges in Ireland are mental...

1 weeks supply when I went "off the drink" properly...

Antabuse (makes you feel sick if you take alcohol)
Thiamine (this is only vitamin B1)
Nexium (for digestion)
Xanax (Was't xanax but can't remember the name, basically anti-Panic Attack stuff).

€97.65.


Dubz
 
Re: Soapbox moment
Sunny
Posts: 1018
Sunny Posted Tue 10 Jul, 2012 8:46 PM Quote

Jeeez, that is mental.

I don't mind paying for medication but it irks me that England seem to be paying for Wales and Scotland.



 
Re: Soapbox moment
Scottish Dubliner
Posts: 8299
Scottish Dubliner Posted Tue 10 Jul, 2012 9:28 PM Quote
Sunny wrote:

Jeeez, that is mental.

I don't mind paying for medication but it irks me that England seem to be paying for Wales and Scotland.





It's not all bad, Because I'm unemployed I have a medical card this entitles me to free prescriptions (well... there's a 50 cent, admin charge).


Not too sure about Wales but Scotland (I think ??) has a seperate Health System, I'm sure I read somewhere about "Trusts" being prohibitted in Scotland at the beginning (80's/90's semi-privatisation), although that may be to do with the different Legal System. This was all before Scotland and Wales had their own devolved parliments...

Without getting to deeply into the politics, Scots generally believe that they have been subsidizing England, Whereas in turn the English believe they have been subsidising Scotland. The truth is probably somewhere in between... However, I recently read something along the lines of the whole of the UK basically subsidising London.

FWIW, again trying not to get too deeply into it... Since the start of the "recession" there has been a growing sense of "Nationalism" in most European countries, this in some cases is creating blatant xenophobia and IMO racism. IMHO the governments of Europe are quite happy to let this happen as it keeps the focus on who's subsidising who... Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, etc. or the Immigration Question. Rather than the Governments, Bankers, CEO's and Ministers responsible for this huge fuck up we find ourselves in.


Dubz

eta: Sorry I haven't articulated the above very well and I have gotten on my own "SoapBox".
 
Re: Soapbox moment
mili
Posts: 3258
mili Posted Wed 11 Jul, 2012 9:52 PM Quote
My brief passes with the NHS have left me impressed, perhaps I was just lucky? Even A&E seemed more efficient than back home.

Here in Finland we pay not only plenty of taxes but also for seeing the GP and for the prescription meds. If one has some chronic illness, those meds are heavily (but increasingly less) subsidised, but for others you pay market price.

I was getting allergy meds one day last month, when the pharmacists advised me to get my nose spray from the prescription free section, as that would save me the 45 cents prescription handling fee…

There is some sort of maximum limit for medical costs, after which you don't have to pay for the doctor or certain medicines.

In private section all this is even more expensive, private dentist can be easily three times more expensive than the public one, but for the public one you have to queue for months. Which reminds me, I'm already late if I want to time my next check up for Autumn.
 
Re: Soapbox moment
Scottish Dubliner
Posts: 8299
Scottish Dubliner Posted Thu 12 Jul, 2012 12:08 AM Quote
Yeah, it's anywhere between €50-€80 to see a GP in Ireland (free on a Medical Card). It's €60-€100 to visit an A&E department, a fee brought in ironically because people were going to A&E instead of their GP. It's €100 if you call and use an Ambulance (€200 for non-EU residents).

I was under the impression that the Scandanavians (sp?) and the Canadians both had very good public health systems... ?


Dubz
 
Re: Soapbox moment
mili
Posts: 3258
mili Posted Thu 12 Jul, 2012 11:31 AM Quote
It could be worse, a visit to the public sector GP is about 12 euros, but used to be free. In the private sector it's anything from about 50 euros up, depending on the speciality + office fees.

The problem is a lack of doctors, other personnel and money + better salaries in the private sector. If there's an acute situation you can get an appointment within 24 hours, but with non urgent cases it could take weeks, unless you're willing to wait for hours at an A&E type place in the evening.

I've had some neck/shoulder trouble since before Christmas. Got the first few appointments pretty quickly and they shot some cortisone in the join, but when that didn't work I was sent to a physiotherapist. I was lucky, got a cancellation time in a different suburb with only 7 weeks to wait…After the initial appointment there's been no trouble with times. It's just slightly annoying that I have to travel some 7 km to get there, when I live just two blocks away from the local health centre.

Anyways, at least one will always get some treatment, eventually, and every registered person in the country is entitled to public health care. There's even a free clinic for paperless patients (= illegal immigrants), run by volunteers.
 
Re: Soapbox moment
Sunny
Posts: 1018
Sunny Posted Thu 12 Jul, 2012 7:16 PM Quote
Scottish Dubliner wrote:
It's €100 if you call and use an Ambulance (€200 for non-EU residents).



The UK should definitely adopt this. It might stop people using ambulances like taxis, especially when they are pissed.

I think I jinxed myself with this thread. I ended up in the minor injuries unit yesterday with my shoulder muscle in spasm. I held out for about 6 hours in case it would go off on its own, but it didn't and I could barely move.

So I got a prescription for diazepam - ONE tablet - £7.65 ... ONE tablet. Arrghh ... lol. Still, at least it worked.


 
Re: Soapbox moment
Scottish Dubliner
Posts: 8299
Scottish Dubliner Posted Thu 12 Jul, 2012 10:40 PM Quote
Sunny wrote:
Scottish Dubliner wrote:
It's €100 if you call and use an Ambulance (€200 for non-EU residents).



The UK should definitely adopt this. It might stop people using ambulances like taxis, especially when they are pissed.

I think I jinxed myself with this thread. I ended up in the minor injuries unit yesterday with my shoulder muscle in spasm. I held out for about 6 hours in case it would go off on its own, but it didn't and I could barely move.

So I got a prescription for diazepam - ONE tablet - £7.65 ... ONE tablet. Arrghh ... lol. Still, at least it worked.




Ouch hope you're feelin' better soon.


Dubz
 
Re: Soapbox moment
Sunny
Posts: 1018
Sunny Posted Tue 17 Jul, 2012 9:25 PM Quote
Scottish Dubliner wrote:



Ouch hope you're feelin' better soon.


Thanks, it's a lot better. My experience of diazepam wasn't nice though; can't understand why anyone would get addicted to it, it left me feeling really rough.
 
Re: Soapbox moment
rella
Posts: 131
rella Posted Thu 19 Jul, 2012 2:07 PM Quote
good wishes for you
 
Re: Soapbox moment
Peewee
Posts: 2850
Peewee Posted Fri 20 Jul, 2012 6:43 PM Quote
Just to add to your misery...Northern Ireland get free prescriptions too. Sorry! You need to speak to those meanie English folk!!!
 
Re: Soapbox moment
Sunny
Posts: 1018
Sunny Posted Wed 01 Aug, 2012 10:59 PM Quote
Peewee wrote:
Just to add to your misery...Northern Ireland get free prescriptions too. Sorry! You need to speak to those meanie English folk!!!


I am indeed truely miserable now :-/

Soapbox Moment #2

Bradley Wiggins.

Give the man a knighthood?

He's only ridden a bloody bike - get a bloody grip, people!

 
Re: Soapbox moment
Scottish Dubliner
Posts: 8299
Scottish Dubliner Posted Thu 02 Aug, 2012 10:51 AM Quote
Sunny wrote:
Peewee wrote:
Just to add to your misery...Northern Ireland get free prescriptions too. Sorry! You need to speak to those meanie English folk!!!


I am indeed truely miserable now :-/

Soapbox Moment #2

Bradley Wiggins.

Give the man a knighthood?

He's only ridden a bloody bike - get a bloody grip, people!



Suppose they have to as they already gave one to Chris Hoy fo much the same thing.


Dubz
 
Re: Soapbox moment
Sunny
Posts: 1018
Sunny Posted Sun 05 Aug, 2012 4:57 PM Quote
Scottish Dubliner wrote:




Suppose they have to as they already gave one to Chris Hoy fo much the same thing.


Dubz


I had forgotten about that. Why the cyclists and not other Olympians?

 
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