Cost without subsidy

Started 30 October 2024 · 19 replies · 231 hearts · read 2.1k times

OzzyAdelaide, AU · 30 October 2024

1.7 years ago

Cost without subsidy Writing it down partly to work out what I actually think.

Regional question, because I have read a great deal of advice that turns out to be true in one country only.

The pathway where I am appears to be different from every account I have read, and I would like to know whether that is the area or me.

I am the only person I know doing this within a considerable distance, so this circle is genuinely my whole peer group on it.

Thank you for reading. Please do say where you are when you reply — it changes what the answer means.

CatoAntwerp, BE

Supply was genuinely difficult for a stretch and my pharmacy managed it by telling me honestly and early, which was all I needed.

PetraFacilitatorMelbourne, Australia

Facilitator note: supply situations change and this thread is dated. I am leaving it open so it can be updated rather than replaced.

DotFalmouth, UK

My GP was the whole of my care and it has been entirely adequate, which is not what I had expected from the accounts online.

BodhiByron Bay, AU

Something practical: the southern summer is my difficult season for storage and I plan around it rather than improvising.

HollisBath, UK

The distances are the thing. My nearest specialist is a flight away and everything I have arranged reflects that.

13me too 9

NyreeChristchurch, NZ

I would say ask about the authority process specifically, because it was straightforward once somebody explained the sequence.

BronwenBarry, UK

Nyree has already said most of this and I want to add the one part that was different for me.

My experience of the shortage period was that the pharmacies communicated much better than any official source did.

GusStirling, UK

What helped was building a buffer during the good periods, which meant the difficult stretch did not interrupt anything.

CallaWellington, NZ

Gently disagreeing with Bronwen, or rather adding the other half of it.

Something worth knowing: the arrangement in New Zealand is different enough from Australia that comparing them confused me for months.

TamarPlymouth, UK

#10

I found the cost without assistance substantial and the conversation about alternatives worth having early rather than late.

8me too 5

BevanSwansea, UK

#11

What I found is that telehealth has been excellent here and it removed most of the practical difficulty for me.

TavitaApia, WS

#12

Tamar — yes, and the bit that took me longest to accept was the next part.

My reviews are six-monthly by video and I have not been into the practice in a year, which suits me entirely.

AriaAuckland, NZ

#13

Tamar, thank you for that. It gives me somewhere to start from.

The heat in summer is a genuine storage problem and I bought a proper cool bag after one very worrying afternoon.

MarenBremen, DE

#14

What I would flag is that the criteria were updated and my GP was working from the previous version for a while.

OttaviaBologna, IT

#15

Recognition rather than advice, if that is any use at all.

NoraDublin, IE

#16

What helped most was a practice nurse who took the time to explain the whole pathway once, properly, at the start.

OttiHarrogate, UK

#17

The listing criteria here are specific and published, and reading them properly answered questions I had been asking people for months.

12me too 1

PetraFacilitatorMelbourne, Australia

#18

Thank you for saying which country you are in at the top of the post. It makes every reply below it more useful and most people forget.

OrrinGlasgow, UK

#19

Something I got right was asking my pharmacy to hold stock for me when supply was uncertain, which they were happy to do.

11me too 9