NHS Prescriptions

Hello All,

Good to pop in, hope you are all doing well and those visa's are being processed at a good rate.

My wife has got her first prescription for medicine after she went to the local GP.

Is the 1st year free for her as we've paid the IHS payment. She has a NHS number too.

On the prescription, which box do i need to tick?

Without any other information from you regarding any conditions she has, if she has a pre-paid certificate, is pregnant or over 60, or if the prescription is for contraception, I will assume that she will not be entitled to any of the exemptions, so therefore she doesn't tick any of the boxes.

She just signs and dates the bottom and if you are living in England, she pays the standard NHS prescription charge of £8.60.

She's 25 & recently found out last month that she is pregnant. The prescription is for Cetirizine tablets because she has Raynaud's phenomenon on her feet. Hope that helps. We're living in England.

She's 25 & recently found out last month that she is pregnant. The prescription is for Cetirizine tablets because she Raynaud's phenomenon on her feet. Hope that helps.

In that case, she doesn't tick any of the boxes.... she just signs and dates it and pays £8.60 if you live in England (or it's free if you live in Scotland or Wales).

In that case, she doesn't tick any of the boxes.... she just signs and dates it and pays £8.60 if you live in England (or it's free if you live in Scotland or Wales).

So what was the IHS surcharge for? I'm sure someone mentioned to me that they get free healthcare for a year?

OFF POINT: That reminds me, i need to ring the solicitor and send him my last documents so he can close the case as he did all the paperwork for my spouse visa application haha! Deary me!

So what was the IHS surcharge for? I'm sure someone mentioned to me that they get free healthcare for a year?

No, the IHS surcharge is a £200 per year contribution towards her healthcare. If she gets a job, she will also be paying taxes towards her healthcare as well.

It does not mean everything is free.

Everyone has to pay for prescriptions in England, unless they are exempt due to age, certain medical conditions, pregnancy, being prescribed birth control etc. (which will be covered by the boxes on the back).

However, instead of paying the full cost of the medication (which could potentially be hundreds or thousands of pounds), you pay a subsidised fee of £8.60 per item on the prescription... it's the same price regardless of what medication is on it, or how many months of medication you get. In some cases, the mediation is available over the counter to buy (such as cetirizine), so it might be cheaper for her to actually buy it instead of filling the prescription - the pharmacist will usually advise if this is the case.

The prescription fee goes up in April every year - in 2016/2017 it was £8.40 and in 2017/2018 it is £8.60. This only applies to England though, as Wales and Scotland have scrapped the prescription charges for people living in those countries.

After she has her booking in appointment with a midwife, they will complete the maternity exemption paperwork.  She will then get a card that will give her free prescriptions for one year after delivery.  This is completely separate to the IHS fee though.

The IHS fee is just that - a fee.  You "technically" don't get anything additional for it.

Congratulations on the baby!

Sorry, totally missed that she was pregnant (congratulations ) - that's what I get for trying to reply while cooking pancakes for dinner!

As KFDancer said, she'll need to fill out the paperwork for a maternity exemption certificate when she sees the midwife and then she'll receive the exemption card.

I assume she'll need to pay for this prescription though as she doesn't have the exemption card yet.

She's 25 & recently found out last month that she is pregnant. The prescription is for Cetirizine tablets because she has Raynaud's phenomenon on her feet. Hope that helps. We're living in England.

Congratulations!

Just as an FYI, cetirizine is available OTC in the UK. Its usually labeled as hay-fever tablets at the 10mg dose. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy that way.

I've also heard there is a prepaid card you can get for prescriptions if you have many... It saves you a bit over the course of the year. I'm not sure of the details on it, but its on my list to ask my GP (when I finally have one) about.

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My wife arrived in the UK in December. She requires a repeat prescription for a particular thing. She paid the £8.60 for the first one but the pharmacist got her to fill in a form for repeat prescriptions. She'll get a card soon to present for future ones and pay nothing. And get the initial £8.60 back. I didn't get the name of the form that the pharmacist asked her to fill in but any pharmacist should know it.

Thank you - amazing people!

That's my questions answered very promptly. Everything is now making sense to me.

Have a good day people. 

Congratulations!

Just as an FYI, cetirizine is available OTC in the UK. Its usually labeled as hay-fever tablets at the 10mg dose. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy that way.

I've also heard there is a prepaid card you can get for prescriptions if you have many... It saves you a bit over the course of the year. I'm not sure of the details on it, but its on my list to ask my GP (when I finally have one) about.

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Welcome to the UK Javid.  If you do need a number of prescriptions for a continued illness or injury you can pay a lump sum and receive a large discounted batch of medicine.  Our HR advisor directed someone who broke their pelvis at work to the scheme as his medical costs was £200 per month!


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