Tuesday, 2 August 2016

Free Prescriptions

Haven't ranted for a while because I've been too lazy haven't had anything much to rant about.  Actually I meant to rant about this a couple of months ago but somehow never got around to it.

Prescription charges??!!  In Scotland prescription charges are free.  In Scotland university fees are free - I may have to rant about that at a later date.

Anyway to get back to todays rant.....................  5 years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I got carted off to hospital, had a lumpectomy, had 3 weeks of radiotherapy and then was told I had to take a drug called 'Anastrozole' for the next 5 years.

So I've taken the drug called 'Anastrozole' for 5 years and every single time that I've picked up my prescription I've had to pay for it.  Every single time I've been in the pharmacists to pick it up; they've asked do you pay for your prescriptions and I just said, 'yes'.  I thought it was just OAPs that got free prescriptions in England.

..................And now I discover that all cancer patients get free treatment??!!

The very lovely pharmacist that served me the last time I picked up my prescription asked (in a very quiet voice), 'is this for breast cancer' and when I said yes, she said that cancer treatments were exempt on the NHS??!!

So who should have told me this?.............................  the radiographer who x-rayed me and told me I had cancer, the McMillan nurse who held my hand and told me I'd be OK, the surgeon who operated on me, the nurses who administered my radiotherapy treatments, the doctor who saw me at my follow up visit, the first pharmacist I saw when picking up these tablets????

Where should I have got this information from???

Obviously I'm very grateful to be alive........................... but......................... to be honest I'm furious that no one has told me about this before.

I asked 'very lovely pharmacist' if I could 'back claim' for all the prescriptions that I have paid out for and she said I couldn't..................

.................Mmmmmmmm....................... not so sure about that???  A very stern letter is going to be winging it's way to NHS headquarters very soon.  Grrrrrrrr.........................


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