WHAT IS A PRIVATE PRESCRIPTION?
- Under the NHS
regulations your GP must
prescribe for you any drugs that
he feels are needed for your
care.
- The
Department of Health lists all
drugs that the NHS is prepared
to pay for in a book called the
Drug Tariff which is updated on
a monthly basis. It
is likely that most, if not all,
the drugs you need are available
through the NHS; however the
Drug Tariff does have
exceptions.
- A private
prescription is not written on
an official NHS prescription and
so is not paid for by the NHS.
- The cost of a
private prescription is met
wholly by the patient and is
dictated by the cost of the
medicine plus the pharmacists
charge for supplying it.
- Any
registered doctor can provide a
private prescription.
However a GP in the surgery at
which you are registered can
only provide a private
prescription if the drug is not
available on the NHS.
- Your GP
cannot make a charge for
supplying you with a private
prescription unless
'The drug is being prescribed
in anticipation of the onset of
an ailment whilst outside the UK
but for which the patient does
not require treatment when the
medicine is prescribed'
or
'for drugs issued for the
prevention of malaria'
- If you see a
doctor at a different practice
or clinic that doctor can make a
charge for supplying you with
the prescription.
- A doctor you
see privately can't issue an NHS
prescription.
WHAT WILL
TREATMENT COST ON A PRIVATE
PRESCRIPTION?
The pharmacy will
charge the full cost of the medicine
you are prescribed, plus its
dispensing fee. It is best to
shop around, because the total cost
of your prescription will vary
between pharmacies.
For more
information please visit the
websites below:
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