Prescription

I have to take medication every day and I will have to take this medication every day for the rest of my life; over that there is no doubt or argument. I consider myself fortunate because this particular medication falls within the "free prescription" criteria, so I don't have to pay for it. In fact, I don't have to pay for any prescription that I ever have to have in the future, regardless of what its for. Which in some respects does seem a little unfair really. I know several people who also have to take medication every day, and will do for the rest of their lives, but because they don't fall within the free prescription criteria, their prescriptions cost them an arm and a leg. So why should I get everything for free, when they get nothing? Odd system.



However, I digress from the purpose of my blog. Because of the way the free prescription system works, my Doctor is only allowed to give me enough medication for one month at a time. So each month I have to remember that I'm about to run out of tablets, unfortunately, I have a crap memory and although I realsie I'm running out of tablets, it's only when I get to the last tablets that I realise I still haven't put in the request for the next lot. So it's then a mad rush to get to the surgery to get the repeat prescription request in and get it signed quickly so that I don't miss a day. My Doctor is getting a bit peeved with me for not being more organised, and rightly so!!



I do wonder how many people are involved in the process of getting a repeat prescription. There's me, the surgery nurse, the Doctor, the pharmacist, and probably several other individuals in the NHS that deal with the paperwork that goes with getting free prescriptions. One can't help but wonder how much it actually costs to get a free prescription. It would make much more sense, and probably be a lot cheaper for the NHS, if a prescription could be issued for 3 months, or even 6 months, worth of pills at the same time. As I said, an odd system.