Refund on prescription meds in UK?

[Alsfia]

So my SO and I are planning to take a gap year together and work before we go to uni. Since I speak English we thought it would be easiest if I came over to UK to live with him, which also would give us half a year extra since I graduate half a year before him. Thing is, I've got asthma which can get rather bad from time to time, and I have 3 perscription medicins that I need to take more or less regularily, depending on how I feel. I know that you can get all with same dose and everything there already, and I don't think it would be any problem to get a perscription, but without any kind of support or refund they would get rather expensive. I've tried doing some research on the goverments homepage but I haven't found anything, and my SO nor his family have any experience of this kind of thing...
In other words, I would be most grateful for some help There's no rush, and if nothing else I could try to ask a GP...

[snow_girl]

Could you get a few months worth of meds from home and then get your parents to send you any after in the mail? Thats what I had done so I could use my healthcare to get them discounted. I am in the UK right now and don't have any extra health care on top of the NHS, none of the prescriptions I've had so far are particularly expensive but I don't get any kind of refunds on them. I think the only way that can happen is if you pay for private or get a health plan through work.

[Alsfia]

Thanks snow_girl. I've been thinking about it, the only problem is I won't have any rights to refunds in Finland when I've been 12 months in UK, so I'd have to get in total 18 months worth of medication and I'm not sure if they allow the pharmacies to sell that much in advance, even if it was bought in periods.
In any case, thanks a lot, I'll keep doing research

[leonsfangirl]

You dont pay more than £7.65 for prescriptions here.

Have a look at this website, it should have all the information you need.

https://www.nhs.uk/nhsengland/Health...tioncosts.aspx

[Alsfia]

You dont pay more than £7.65 for prescriptions here.

Have a look at this website, it should have all the information you need.

https://www.nhs.uk/nhsengland/Health...tioncosts.aspx

Is that just the prescription or is it the medicines too?

[snow_girl]

prescriptions are for medicine

[Alsfia]

OK, thanks a lot! Got one of the biggest questionmarks straightened out

[MissButterfly]

prescriptions are for medicine

I think she meant to ask if the 7.65 was only to get a prescription or if that includes the cost of the actual medication as well

[Alsfia]

I think she meant to ask if the 7.65 was only to get a prescription or if that includes the cost of the actual medication as well

Yay! Someone who can express what I can't Thanks

[leonsfangirl]

They dont charge to write out the prescription. Visiting the Dr is also free here. Register with a Dr here and they should be able to get your medical records and issue you the medication you need.... depending on your circumstances you may not have to pay the full price or it may even be free.

[Tooki]

I cant speak for certain but I would assume that you could go to the doctor's for free, because you are from an EU member state. (You would probably already know the details from your research)

[Alsfia]

Thanks I'll probably register this summer...

[Hololz]

I did orientation for the international students this year. This is the information we were given from the university:

"Emergency hospital treatment and sexual healthcare is free to all. If you are from an EU country, you will be entitled to free NHS healthcare, on the same basis as home students. This includes GP appointments and hospital treatment, but a standard charge of £7.65 per item applies for prescriptions."

The £7.65 charge is universal for everyone, even UK residents (unless you're under 18 or have been prescribed birth control) and is essentially just a handling fee (think of it as postage and packaging ).

Hope it helps!

[Alsfia]

Thanks a lot guys, this has been one of the major concerns, so it's good to get some advice