Just wondering whether anyone has ever successfully got a methotrexate prescription from their GP to cover a period longer than 1 month? I have previously received private prescriptions for 3 months worth of weekly 15mg tablet form doses. The £9.90 per month, versus £9.90 for a 3 month prescription is hugely significant! not to mention all the hassle of contacting the GP every month.
Fortunately my consultant did mention that this might be a problem, so I might have an alternative route directly through rheumatology, but interested to know of others experiences
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Robejo
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My old Dr was a senior partner and got round the system to prescribe 2 month of mtx, but my new dr can’t, but I have just had 2 months prescribed by rheumatology.
thank you. I think I'll try to arrange an appt with the GP to discuss options, surely it is in everyone's interests to extend the length of prescription (just from the resourcing perspective). ++ the Rheumatology route obviously isn't sustainable as they can;t occupy themselves with this stuff
I get my MTX injections delivered by Sciensis which is organised by my rheumatology department (usually 12 weeks supply). I would definitely recommend getting an annual pre payment certificate if you have RA or any other long term medical condition. They cost less than £115 and cover all your prescriptions for the year not just the MTX. It costs about the same as 11 items so definitely worth it, especially when a monthly prescription for MTX and folic acid would cost the best part of £20!
I have a prepayment on direct debit and it automatically renewed after the initial 12 months. They sent me a notification that it had been renewed. No extra cost to paying by monthly DD.
I would also suggest using the NHS app to order repeat prescriptions, which is what I do for other items like folic acid and omeprazole etc, it’s much more efficient than contacting the GP or pharmacy. Since I have used it I am much more in control of the ordering, I can see when it’s been approved and when it’s been sent to my nominated pharmacy. My chosen pharmacy then send me a text to say it’s ready to pick up. They know I’ve got a pre payment cert so it’s no hassle at all really.
If it's a one off like going on holiday, just put in a request to your doctor and as long as your blood tests are up to date they should be able to give you an early prescription. If it's a regular thing and the aim is to avoid paying as much for your prescription then no, that's not going to happen. I remember a colleague complaining about having to trail to the pharmacist monthly to get his hayfever prescription, he'd asked about getting a longer prescription and the doctors had said no chance, it's just how the NHS works. It is completely inefficient.
Tks - the inefficiency is astonishing. Although I suppose alot more £££ is made from the flat fees. But ultimately £115 annual prepay certificate is less than the cost of one session with a private rheum consultant who would prob prescribe for a much longer period at once! Swings and roundabouts.
But a Private Rheumy consultant would write a Private Prescription…I don’t know how expensive Mtx is…but Private Consultants also have to obey certain rules….& probably prescribing Mtx for longer than a NHS Doctor would ….is probably ‘not done’.
Plus some Private doctors charge £25 for each prescription they write.
My methotrexate has been on my repeat prescription list for a long time. Provided the blood tests are up to date, I just put a request and the prescription goes to my nominated pharmacy.
I receive 3 monthly prescriptions for metoject (mtx) and folic acid from my rheumatologist, my hydroxychloroquine and dry eye medication plus anti inflamatory drugs and pain killers from my GP monthly.
A yearly prepayment certificate (ppc) £114.50 per year, makes substantial financial savings. You can if you choose pay for a quarterly ppc. Fortunately I no longer have to pay for my treatment.
mine is looked after by an outsource company instructed by by my GP, they check up on you and providing I have 3 monthly blood tests, they issue a prescription for 3 months. I don’t pay by the way.
My rheumatologist monitored me for 3 months, then passed to my GP, they are a large practice and use other sources where possible. The first company they used were useless, so they changed to the company that monitors me now, they are very thorough and reliable, once issued it goes straight to my pharmacist who deliver it to me. I really don’t have any complaints. I sometimes ask them to ring the lab, if I’ve had blood tests done for my Bio injections with my main hospital as they are a different health authority and they do so without any problems. X
Thanks for the info, this sounds like an interesting solution. I do have to pay, but would much rather br paying for a 3 month batch and not have to trot along to the chemist once a month and face the risk of the GP service messing up the amount eaxh time. Can I ask how that came about? Did the GP initiate it?
I think it depends a lot on how the shared care agreement has been set up between your rheumatologist and GP. In our area DMARDs are prescribed by the hospital on behalf of the GPs and they issue 3 month prescriptions.
It’s worth having a discussion with your GP but I suspect you may be stuck with the system that has been put in place.
My MTX metoject is all organised by the hospital rheumatology team, who send me the blood forms and outsource to Sciensus to deliver three month's supply each time. There have been a few hiccups with Sciensus so not a perfect system but manageable.
I have shared care and my mtx and folic acid comes straight from my gp practise to Pharmacy. I always struggled to get it from rhumi department it was always late or wrong prescription and I had to get to a more local hospital pharmacy to collect. Much better this way more direct less mistakes x
I collect 3 months supply MTX 10mg (Metoject) from my local hospital. I ring the rheumatology Department and leave a message. I've done this for 5 years now as my GP practice don't have permission to prescribe it.
Yes we used to go to Malaysia for 3 months plus, so yes asked my GP to provide 12 metajet pens. I wrote the GP a letter explaining my situation and they were happy to help.
Also flagged up with the airline & security my meds will be in hand luggage. Hope this helps?
Tks everyone. Just thinking about Folic Acid. So my prescription is 5mg weekly. Now if I only get 1mth worth from GP @ £9.90, then that is way more expensive than buying a pot of 90 400ug tablets for a couple of quid from supermarket. Yes would need to take 12 of them each time but they small. Enough. Seems silly to waste cash in that way. But i suppose £9.90 for monthly mtx still pushes up to the £115 annual blanket cost. I'll stop moaning and get on with it. Feeling irritable because I took my MTX dose y'day. Ggrrr.
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but they small. Enough. Seems silly to waste cash in that way. But i suppose £9.90 for monthly mtx still pushes up to the £115 annual blanket cost. I'll stop moaning and get on with it. Feeling irritable because I took my MTX dose y'day. Ggrrr.
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