Paying for dressings/bandages

[Mandem 13]

My son has just had a pretty major operation, he brought quite a few dressings home from hospital, then had the district nurse for two weeks to dress his wounds. He never paid for any of them, and yes, he does pay for his prescriptions.

[Anna B 1,417]

Sounds like Government Cuts in action.

[Parvo 13]

My son has just had a pretty major operation, he brought quite a few dressings home from hospital, then had the district nurse for two weeks to dress his wounds. He never paid for any of them, and yes, he does pay for his prescriptions.

 

he's lucky...the nurses have to get a prescription for dressings just like they would for medicines......they may have wangled it or used some 'leftover' ones...most district nurses I've met hate the fact that patients have to pay for dressings ....(and yes I have met quite a few)

[Rupert_Baehr 10]

Dont we pay taxes, and have a free NHS; SEN/Gipsies kids can get free transport to school and pensions free bus pass and lots of other stuff. Yet a health related item and ordinary people need to pay. This is one of my 'pet subjects'.

 

You pay taxes which contribute towards the cost of healthcare, but the amount you pay in taxes is rather less than citizens of other countries pay and doesn't cover the cost of the NHS. You certainly don't pay enough to fund the full cost of a 'Free NHS'.

 

When I first came to the UK, there was no such thing as 'prescription charges' - but then again there were far fewer items available on prescription. (As I remember, there were two: "The Mixture" (a liquid) and "The Tablets". They certainly weren't going to tell you what you were getting.) You were 'the patient' and you certainly didn't need to know what was going on!

 

45 years on there are prescription charges, parking charges, charges for a TV by your bedside and charges for a phone. (Those are the ones I'm aware of - there may well be others.)

 

Then again, the range - and cost - of services provided 'at no charge' by the NHS has increased dramatically. You could have a completely free NHS, with no charges for anything anywhere - but you'd have to pay significantly higher taxes.

 

The NHS provides a lot of things at no cost but there is also a significant number of things which - although other healthcare systems provide them - are not available through the NHS or are available in strictly limited quantities and whether you are entitled or not seems to depend on where you live.

 

(There is, of course, no "postcode lottery" )

 

I'm a strong advocate of 'ring fenced' taxes where the taxes levied are 'supposed' to pay for a service. That's anathema to British Politicians (who are renowned for being less-than-honest.)

 

Q: "If we had to spend the money we collect for health only on health and weren't able to 'divert' it to pay for something else, how would we 'govern' the people?"

 

A: Rather more honestly and certainly more openly.

[howden 10]

I have told her to get advice but she says she doesn't like "causing a fuss". I've told her that she must get her doctor out if she's no better. She's going to see how she is this week!!

 

Why don't you phone the doctor?

[Mister M 1,627]

I had a minor surgical procedure on Tuesday at the Hallamshire Hospital and was advised by my GP's practice nurse that the wound needed to be packed and dressed every day.

 

Over the weekend it was arranged for the district nurse to come out to do this, but I must provide all of my own dressings and the packing material for the wound, at my own expense. This has now cost me two prescription charges just for 5 dressings/packing and it is likely that I will need more.

 

Is this right? Surely if it needs to be dressed each day and the practice nurse can't do they should provide me with the dressings (as the Hallamshire did for the first couple of days).

 

For the next couple of months I'm having quite a few prescriptions, and as I pay for mine the chemist suggested a Prescription Pre payment Certificate (form FP95).

It'll work out cheaper for you in the long run....

[terminator 10]

yes, its unfair.....and very expensive if you need packing, saline, dressing, 3 types of bandage and tape to stick t...that is 7 items potentially, which is 7x£7.40 or whatever it is now....

 

---------- Post added 25-05-2013 at 23:20 ----------

 

 

but do they get free prescriptions?

 

and telling the nurses you can't afford the dressings might help..

 

they may well not realise you pay and could have more sympathy with you than you think

Yes pay for scripts