A small rant

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Interesting ...... I mean is it actually against the Law?

I know it's required by the NHS but not whether that's ensconced in the Law. I have to say, I was always jolly careful to make sure mine was renewed - cos I know I asked about it at the GP surgery when I first moved here, to a different County since originally one had to apply to the County Council Strategic Health Authority which involved asking them for a form, completing it and buying a stamp to put on the envelope to send it back to them at my own cost but since reaching retirement age 13+ years ago I've totally lost track of such things. Do you actually get a renewal reminder and if so, from whom.

Have to say Lucy - no way would I always have been able to afford to pay for scrips for the last 50+ years without the exemption.
 
trophywench said:
Have to say Lucy - no way would I always have been able to afford to pay for scrips for the last 50+ years without the exemption.
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If your income is low you can apply for an exemption for that instead of a medical exemption, or a pre payment certificate. Both of those involve applications so makes sense to just fill in the medical exemption one. It’s 2 minutes every 5 years, not 2 minutes every 1 year as some of those other means of paying are, so I can’t see what people are complaining about.
 
The point being made @Lucyr is we are entitled to “free” prescriptions but this requires us to trust the GP will submit the form.
If they do not, or if this is delayed, we have no medical exemption certificate. Only if this form is not submitted by someone else is a person with diabetes on limited income required to apply for another type of exemption.
If I was on limited income, I would be working long hours or not able to access these forms and visits to the GP surgery.

For me, the problem is not about filling in the form. It is about having to find time to get the paper form from the GP during normal working hours and then rely on them to submit it.
Filling in the form every 5 years is frustrating for a disease with no known cure but not the biggest problem. The problem is the antiquated process.
 
helli said:
If I was on limited income, I would be working long hours or not able to access these forms and visits to the GP surgery.
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Fill it in when you go for an appointment, or for a prescription, or before/after work. Most GPs have evening opening hours some days now.
 
Lucyr said:
Fill it in when you go for an appointment, or for a prescription, or before/after work. Most GPs have evening opening hours some days now.
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Even if I did need to go in to the surgery (I don't often because prescription requests are done online and delivered to a pharmacy near work), this doesn't overcome the risk of my GP surgery forgetting to submit it.

You are still missing the point about the antiquated process needing me to rely on someone else to submit the form when the DVLA is in the 21st century and allows it all online and submit by myself.
As I wrote in my first comment "I have just submitted my form..." but I am concerned it is now out of my hands.
 
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Admin = 5 x the prescription charge, max £100. So yeah OK it's against the Law to tick that box if you don't physically possess an exemption certificate however once you have an incurable medical condition which qualifies you for one of em, as long as the scrip in question actually includes at least one thing which relates to that qualifying medical condition, I'd be exceedingly tempted to tell em to try their luck pursuing me. One of the reasons it's easier all round to use a regular pharmacy, rather than just nipping into wherever to get your scrip dispensed, cos they already know you're eligible to tick the relevant box. There have been many, many occasions over the last 50+ years when I've had a scrip for absolutely nowt to do with anything eligible - eg dental things and (mainly 'lady') hormones so I've needed the physical proof in case that day's random pharmacy asked to see it.

Anyway - it really is beyond high time these could be renewed if not automatically, at the very least, online - but there again the NHS and computers don't mix that well!
 
I wonder if the renewal thing is perhaps based on some conditions potentially moving in or out of the ‘free’ bracket. So at least if things changed the free certificates would expire after a while.

It does seem a pretty labour intensive workaround for that though (especially with Drs time being so stretched).

Of course the other workaround would be simply to make all prescriptions free (as they have in Scotland and Wales)!
 
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