How does a named patient for NDT work do I have to pay for meds on that deal or not?

[Pascha1]

I went back to GPs today to seewhats appending on them letting me have NDT ,

Gp not in till Wednesday, the pharmacist said they have got me as a named patient for NDT For clinical need, she said they were not sure if the Gp wanted to charge me for the NDT or not as it’s on a private prescription, she said a few others get NDT in the surgery but they pay for it.!

I saw the Endo on NHS and the GP on NHS surely they are not allowed to charge me for the medication if I’m being treated on nhs

But they had to put on private prescription , ? Named patient basis ?

I need to be armed with any info on it on Wednesday, as not really sure how it works, I already get T 3 added some of this is to be reduced 10 mcg per day so they can’t say I will be costing more having NDT it isn’t the same price is it.

The NHS i ENDO nstructed the NHS GP to prescribe, I haven’t been private. So why should I pay for NDT ?

If anyone can enlighten me on how named patient drugs work when I have a clinical need.

I’m sure the Gp when I went Hypo years ago said bad news your Hypothyroid but good news you get all prescriptions free for the rest of your life!

Did he tell me another lie ? They seem to have been full of those on my thyroid journey!

Thanks

[MaisieGray]

There is some confusion going on there.

"Named Patient Basis" simply means that ordinarily a patient wouldn't be prescribed a certain treatment, such as NDT, within NHS rules, because for instance, it isn't licensed in this country. But because the Dr believes the patient has a special need for it which can't be met with first line meds, eg Levothyroxine, they wish to prescribe the med to the patient. So, the NDT isn't routinely prescribed to any patient, only on a "Named Patient Basis". There are some general guidelines that the Dr is recommended to follow, such as noting in the patient's records that the med is being prescribed on that basis and why, but they aren't prevented from initiating the prescribing within NHS rules, if in their judgment, it is valid to do so.

It does not mean that there is a charge for it, it is prescribed within normal NHS rules ie if the standard prescription charge is normally payable, then that will be the cost to the patient; or if the patient is exempt from the prescription charge (which a hypothyroid patient would generally be), then there will be no cost of course.

Just because a med is being prescribed on a Named Patient Basis does NOT mean it becomes a private prescription for which the patient has to pay. An NHS GP may provide a private prescription to a patient of course, and the patient will have to pay for it to be dispensed, but that is separate from an NHS patient being prescribed on a Named Patient Basis within the NHS.

This is the guidance issued to pharmacists regarding both unlicensed specials, and unlicensed imports, the latter including NDTs. The fact that it is telling pharmacists how they will be reimbursed within the normal NHS dispensing framework proves that patients are not required to pay for their meds! QED! psnc.org.uk/wp-content/uplo...

[Pascha1 in reply to MaisieGray]

Thank you very much xx

[Jodypody]

You don’t pay I got it via nhs and I don’t pay. If you send your prescription to Chemist 4 U they express deliver free. I send the prescription via guaranteed next day delivery which costs 6.25 but it’s guaranteed. Take a photo of the prescription before you send

[Pascha1 in reply to Jodypody]

The problem is it’s not allowed to be written on FP10 so will be a private prescription, so if surgery doesn’t give it and the contents free, I will have to pay for the item else where, it’s not on BNF anymore so can not be written on nhs prescription apparantly,, it used to be on BNF but not any more, I just wondered how it works now this way .

[DonnyJam]

Hello, sorry to slightly hijack the thread but is there a specific way we can push a GP into prescribing NDT? It's not exactly cheap is it....I've been buying my own for a while now and T3.

It rings a bell that I once saw a link to an info pack that you could take along to the doctors with you, was being passed around a while ago?

[LindaC]

I've had NDT [Armour] prescribed via Dr S - privately at first - then from GP on a named patient basis for several years paid via NHS resources.

[Pascha1 in reply to LindaC]

well done getting on NHS, did i take long to here back from ccg when they asked them fund it

Thank you x

[LindaC in reply to Pascha1]

Sorry, this was years back - I was getting private pres's via Dr S in 2010 - to my GP, then GP from at least 2012 just prescribed BECAUSE THE RULES UNTIL 2014 [at least] permitted GPs to do so. It was only Jan 2017 that a new to practice GP removed my prescription. Sadly, if people had known those rules, a lot of people could have taken the info to their GP. I'd like to go back and introduce some NDT - I take T3 alone - but it seems also to have been wiped out, in favour of T4 which after a couple of months, I couldn't tolerate BECAUSE I DIDN'T NEED MORE OF IT! This is all crazy by now.

I wish you well - people seem now to have to do what they can for themselves. Take care, look after yourself, best wishes! xox