Will northern pharmacies fill out southern prescriptions?

ApeXaviour

I have a prescription from a clinic in dublin, but have been told these specific medications are very expensive in the republic, but not so in the UK. If I take a bus up there will they fill it?

RobFowl

In a word No.
Prescriptions needs to be written and signed by a doctor registered in the juristiction .
The north's docs are registered by the GMC
Irish (ROI) docs by the Irish medical council.
Bear in mind if you register for the drug payments scheme they'll cost you no more than 100 a month (per family) anyway.
Drugs are not nessecarily cheaper in the north any way its just that if you are living there and registered with an NHS GP you don't actually pay for the drugs you pay a prescription charge only. A private prescription would probably be dearer in the north.

_Whimsical_

ApeXaviour wrote: »

I have a prescription from a clinic in dublin, but have been told these specific medications are very expensive in the republic, but not so in the UK. If I take a bus up there will they fill it?

Yes this is possible. Since November 2008 pharmacies in the UK and NI can legally dispense a prescription issued by a doctor or a dentist in any EEA country including Switzerland. It has been enabled by The Medications for Human Use (prescribing by EEA Practitioners) Regulations 2008.
Details are here :http://www.psni.org.uk/documents/136/Dispensing+European+Economic+Area+prescriptions.pdf

I rang the Irish Medicines Board a few months ago on this issue and they told me that while it's illegal to have your prescription medication delivered via mail from the UK or NI,it is legal to pick it up there and travel home with it.

Some medications are definitely less expensive in the UK. In my own case I have a prescription that costs me €20. In one chemist I've enquired about in the UK it would cost me 60 cents per month. That would make a saving of €232.80 a year! As Rob Fowl points out though if you're on very expensive medication the Drug Payment Scheme might be your best bet. It's worth checking though.

RobFowl

chilly wrote: »

Yes this is possible. Since November 2008 pharmacies in the UK and NI can legally dispense a prescription issued by a doctor or a dentist in any EEA country including Switzerland. It has been enabled by The Medications for Human Use (prescribing by EEA Practitioners) Regulations 2008.
Details are here :http://www.psni.org.uk/documents/136/Dispensing+European+Economic+Area+prescriptions.pdf

I rang the Irish Medicines Board a few months ago on this issue and they told me that while it's illegal to have your prescription medication delivered via mail from the UK or NI,it is legal to pick it up there and travel home with it.

Some medications are definitely less expensive in the UK. In my own case I have a prescription that costs me €20. In one chemist I've enquired about in the UK it would cost me 60 cents per month. That would make a saving of €232.80 a year! As Rob Fowl points out though if you're on very expensive medication the Drug Payment Scheme might be your best bet. It's worth checking though.

That legislation is designed so that people travelling to the UK can get ongoing and nessecary medications issued .
Pharmacies are not obliged to dispense medicines under it.

This is one of the main reasons cross border GP co-ops are so difficult to set up. Basically I am a registered doctor in the ROI but not in the UK (included NI).

_Whimsical_

RobFowl wrote: »

That legislation is designed so that people travelling to the UK can get ongoing and nessecary medications issued .
Pharmacies are not obliged to dispense medicines under it.

Yes that is what the legislation is designed for but being able to travel from the Republic across the border to have prescriptions filled is a fringe benefit. Infact the notice from the PSNI specifically mentions that this legislation is of particular relevance in NI border counties as they might experience regular traffic of prescriptions from the Republic.

It is true that this legislation makes filling Irish prescriptions possible but not mandatory. It's still at the discretion of the individual store. In the current climate I'm sure most shops would be happy to oblige however. I've heard of a several people who've bought meds up there now. OP it might still be wise to call a few pharmacies in NI to save yourself time visiting those that may not be willing to help you.

drzhivago

chilly wrote: »

Yes that is what the legislation is designed for but being able to travel from the Republic across the border to have prescriptions filled is a fringe benefit. Infact the notice from the PSNI specifically mentions that this legislation is of particular relevance in NI border counties as they might experience regular traffic of prescriptions from the Republic.

It is true that this legislation makes filling Irish prescriptions possible but not mandatory. It's still at the discretion of the individual store. In the current climate I'm sure most shops would be happy to oblige however. I've heard of a several people who've bought meds up there now. OP it might still be wise to call a few pharmacies in NI to save yourself time visiting those that may not be willing to help you.

cant understand why a business would do this unless they are subsidised by UK government to do this

Admit I dont fully understand how prescriptions work in UK but if you are paying €20 here and 60 cents there something doesnt sound right
I thought there were prescription charges there but that medications were provided as part of the NHS ie FREE but someone somewhere has to pay

I would think UK govt will pass the bill to Irish govt in some way.

amjon

I find it hard to believe that you would get any prescription medication for 60 cent. There is usually a dispensing fee of 5 or 6 pounds before you factor in the cost of the medication itself.

_Whimsical_

A regular boards.ie reader will be aware of one UK pharmacy dispensing prescriptions to Ireland through an online store. I don't want to mention the name as ,as I have said before, it is illegal to have medications delivered to you via mail order in Ireland. If you look at that one chemist as an example you will find that some common medications that are prescibed in Ireland can be sold at much cheaper rates than they are here.For example a 100mcg Eltroxin tablet costs 5p in that pharmacy. One months supply would cost £1.50. I'm not advocating buying medications online at all. It's just as close as I can come to finding an online reference for my point.

The chemist I enquired with was located in Manchester and did not have an online store. It was just a normal walk in pharmacy. I'm not going to say what medication I'm on but it is common and around many years.I take it in an unusually small dose but seem to be charged full price for it in Ireland. They told me they would sell it at 3p per tablet which makes my calculation incorrect. It would actually cost me a whooping 90p per month!

In truth I did not factor in dispensing costs because further research revealed sending it by post each month would be illegal so I just left it. I think the dispensing cost was around £5.

I was not initially that saying buying your medication in the North is always better or cheaper, just that it's now legally possible. My experience was that it can be cheaper and the OP said he's heard that his medication is cheaper when purchased in the UK too.

ApeXaviour

It was cheaper for this specific medication. I would recommend for other people that they ask their doctor to prescribe them the generic drug name as opposed to a brand name, as many chemists in the north will stock a different brand than the republic. In my case it was an antibiotic called Clarithromycin. This comes under the brand name Klacid in the republic, but in the north the brand is Klaracid. Chemists aren't allowed give out drugs of a different name than what is on the prescription. If my doctor had prescribed me clarithromycin, I wouldn't have had this trouble.

Morgase

Has anybody had any experience with getting prescriptions filled abroad, in an EU country?

I'm going to Portugal next week and was thinking of getting my prescription filled there if I can at all as it's so expensive here.

Bigdogdan22

I post my prescription to newry and then go up to collect when it's filled. There is a late night seven day one on Monaghan street

RobFowl

There are rules about bringing up Zombie threads so please have a read of the forum charter.
I think the topic has been answered fairly comprehensively as well so am closing the thread.