Ok Folks, I need a rant!!!! Sent to pick up my repeat perscription from My local chemist today to find all my tablets were in order, but when I got home found that my EC Aspirin had been changed to dispersible where over the years I have alway had Gastro resistant Aspirin, due to a stomach bleed many years ago, spoke with my GP to be told that the CCG guidelines are that now patients on any drug like omeprazole now must be given dispersible Aspirin instead as they feel that Aspirin does not work!!! And that if you do take Omeprazole that should be sufficient in protecting the stomach from a bleed.
So when I asked when was it changed, she said months ago, so I asked why was I not informed about the change to which she had no reply and Just apologised, and has now reinstated EC Aspirin on my repeat perscription. So my Question is why are these people at the CCG changing peoples medication without notification, what will be next to be got rid of Hydroxycarbamide. This has not done my blood pressure any good. I am fuming. It is almost like they are playing god with peoples lives just to try and save a few pennies, can’t think why as Aspirin is one of the cheapest drugs on the market.
Anyway rant over. Still bruised and battered
Jean 😡
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You can easily buy EC aspirin in any major supermarket - under £1 for a month’s supply. I’ve never asked for it on prescription, as that seems a waste of money in itself..!
Yes - I get my Interferon on a free NHS prescription but have never understood the logic of also claiming a few pence worth of aspirin that end up costing the NHS several £s..!
Fair point. I guess it acts as a safety net for those who just don’t have the budgetary space for additional medical expenses. I thank my lucky stars we have our major drug needs all met!
Hi andy, must agree wiv u,lot of waste in nhs,thats why they r going to stop this needless prescribing of issuing of minor medications which r of minimal cost over the counter. The cost which is vast wud make huge savings within the nhs budget,savings which i wud prefer 2 c on other drugs more readily available for people wiv life threatening conditions, u ave 2 fight tooth & nail & red tape 2 get just 4 a chance of a prolonged life! In comparison buying a pk of aspirin out of ones own pocket is neither here or there in cutting the cost just a little 2 help the nhs budget! Atb.tina.
EC aspirin is so cheap and readily available over the counter I buy mine, not worth asking the NHS to pay for it in my opinion. My hospital don't prescribe it, just normal aspirin, never bothered to ask why. You've got it reinstated so try not to let it bother you, the stress is not good for you. Best wishes, Frances.
Interesting. GPs won’t prescribe EC aspirin as off the list - too expensive - so always buy it myself. I’d like to know why the advice has changed and in what circumstances. May be worth asking haem. I have found they can be very specific in their prescribing and sometimes at odds with GP guidelines. On occasion haems have prescribed through hospital pharmacy to save any arguments with GPs (who are generally very good). I find patients are usually the last to know when guidelines change!!
I don’t think that you were really banging on about the aspirin... I think it was the prescription change without them informing you. I think we get used to taking all this medication and when everything runs smoothly we just do it but when something changes it’s can be upsetting because then we have to think about it and remember that actually we have no control over this at all. I’m glad you got it sorted.... and yes, in the future, we may well have to pay lots of money to manage our conditions. X
You should have been told about the change, I assume you haven’t been dispersing it for the past few months?
The CCG are always looking at the cost v’s the evidence of effectiveness, if they didn’t do this the nhs would be in far greater financial problems than they are now.
I personally would like gps to be banned from prescribing medication that can be bought far cheaper over the counter than the overall cost to gps, the money saved would make a big difference.
Interested to hear that you get your prescriptions via your GP. My hydroxy is prescribed at the hospital and collected from the hospital pharmacy. When I ran out once and asked at local pharmacy, they do not issue them at all.
Funny how things are so different from one area to the other
Hi belgobrit,ave had hu in local pharmacy fex times in yrs gone by,just had 2 ask my haemo who issued normal prescription,trouble is pharmacy ave 2 order it in especially 4 u. If it wud be easier 4 u,ask ur haemo & pharmacy about it.Boots & Lloyds pharmacy used 2 order it in 4 me. Atb,tina.
Yes that’s what the hospital did for me, also said that if I had any problems they would provide the drugs themselves again. Which they did for the first year until they got my levels right.
Everyone keeps going on about how cheap some medications are to buy, but if those are no longer available on prescription demand over the counter will go up and so the manufactures will cash in by increasing the price.
Hi mcw22,andyt , as made a valid point about the cost 2 us being a few pence & the way the nhs r held 2 ransom 4 £'s,i think we shud count ourselfs lucky that we r not in the usa were their is no nhs& no money or insurance means no meds,no treatment. When the nhs,ironically recently 70yr ago,the slogan free from the point of delivery, shud not ave meant it so literally!
My GP advised me that there’s some evidence to suggest that dispersible aspirin is more effective? Because of this I choose to buy dispersible aspirin. Two months supply for next to nothing.
I agree with you Jean, you should have been informed of this change.
I get angry about things like that too! Last week according to my haematologist’s guidelines written in my notes I was due two units of blood for transfusion but the lab decided that as I was only 3 points under the upper parameter that they would only send one! Who are they to decide my treatment?!! I contacted my consultant and he sorted it for me so I eventually had the two units! Apparently there is a new boss in the lab who is very numbers driven but she knows nothing about me and why those parameters were set for me. The hospital where I get my transfusions had phoned the lab to say that I needed two but they just refused!
Hi Jean, while we are in ranting mood... My wife and I are both pensioners thus get free prescriptions, however we always notice when we are given ointment type stuff they are in the largest size available! My wife had a small heat rash and came away with a canister type dispenser almost as big as she is! Is this where all the NHS money is going I wonder?
At least you got you Aspirin sorted. I've tried Aspirin but upset tummy, never hear of the EC type. Don't like that red face ....and breath....that's better.
Hi, I'm a bit confused now. Are the CCG saying that if you take Omeprazole with EC Aspirin the Aspirin doesn't work. I take Lanzoprazole and have been taking EC Aspirin for 10 years, on my GPs recommendation as the dispersible Aspirin was irritating my stomach.
I went to the chemist sone years ago for something totally unrelated, the pharmacist asked what other drugs I took. I said, omoperazole and clopidogrel, he advised that omoperazole stops clopidogrel or aspirin working as well, but Lansoprazole is ok. I went back to my GP who checked her book and said, yes he’s correct so I now take Lansoprazole. I asked my Heam at the time and he advised it’s not a worry as Clopidogrel is quite strong.
Interesting issues. Will likely be happening more often.
One of the problems with getting regular meds over the counter is that if they aren't prescribed by your GP -
a) they can be seen as unimportant, or somehow don't count,when actually they may be clinically important, but also -
b) your GPs' prescription system, depending on how sophisticated it is, may not be able to tell the the GPs about drug interactions with anything you buy OTC . My own GPs' system takes that lack of sophistication one step further, and has no way of inputting drugs like the ruxolitinib and EPO I have prescribed for me by a hospital. Both of which can have significant interaction with all sorts of stuff. So now I know that, we have a quick google for rux interactions whenever I need anything new. Antibiotics, for example.
Aspirin is cheap, but it's a very potent drug.
A cause of the fury that I can also relate to is that someone who doesn't have any clinical or professional responsibility for decisions about medication is making changes to what has been prescribed. In pre MPN days I was prescribed a slow release BP medication -one tablet a day -and the pharmacist, off their own bat, gave me a non -slow release form. Which didn't have the same effect at all.
I also remember my mother-in-law, when she was very old and frail and suffering severe pain with pancreatic cancer being given her supply of oral morphine in a huge brown glass bottle that even I found difficult to lift and pour into the flimsy plastic measure. There was a standing instruction, apparently, that medication had to be dispensed in the largest possible containers (no, I don't know why: but it probably costs less to supply one litre bottle than 2 half litre bottles). If that instruction had been tempered with - bearing in mind how the patient is expected to use it -that would have been OK.
Thanks Rachel That makes so much sense. I have been on gastric resistant aspirin since I was 42 I am now 69 (today) actually and have never had a problem with it, I take Omeprazole when needed only if I am going to eat spicy food it really helps. My moan is why was I not informed .
Spoke with my chemo nurse today, she said, that she has had quite a few conversations about this with the hospital pharmacy as they also have been instructed to revert to dispersible Aspirin, for those on Omeprazole seems it might only being trialed in our borough. My one thought is that there have been so many scare stories on these proton pump inhibitors when taken over a long period of time. My Haematologist was more than happy for me to take only when needed.
There are so many more ways that the NHS could save money, which I will not get into, because where would we be without it we are so lucky, just which I had been told.
Hi all, I’m not too worried about paying a little for Enteric coated Aspirin, but can I ask, should I be paying for Proton pump inhibitor Omeprazole? It is something I will need to take if I decide go back onto EC Aspirin, due to ulcer it caused the last time I was taking it. And how about clopidogrel, if I decide to take that instead, should i pay for that. Thanks, Paul
Hi sp,the drugs u mention clopidogrel is prescription only & omerprazole can be bought over the counter,the brand name being nexium but i think u can get only 10mg, were dr can prescribe higher dose especially 4 stomach problems. Another thing being,nexium pretty expensive over the counter to purchase,so the answer is no u shud not be expected 2 pay 4 them,aspirin is pennies, nexium is several pound & like i said clopidogrel is prescription only. I am on clopidogrel & have taken nexium which i paid 4! Atb.tina.
Hi Paul, if you are being prescribed any medication for your MPN then you are entitled to an exemption certificate, which means you don't have to pay any prescription charges regardless of the medication being prescribed, but you do have to be getting something to treat your MPN to qualify, you need to aks your haematologist, or nurse specialist, for a FP92A form, or you can ask at your GP surgery. You need to tick the box that says you are receiving treatment for cancer, as MPNs are now classed as blood cancers. Maz
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