Post by kickingfrog on Jan 2, 2012 18:43:12 GMT
Prescription cuts - epic WIN!
Posted by Adrian on 2/1/2012
GF board
We live in Sittingbourne and were told about 6 months ago that we were to be only allowed bread and flour mixes on prescription.
2 months ago we got another letter saying that no fresh bread would be allowed and that we could only have the long life bread.
Well, we did some digging, spoke to the pharmacy about what they pay for bread and then spoke direct to Juvella, ending up with us writing the following letter to the surgery, which resulted in us winning our case and getting the surgery to admit they could buy cheaper and should change their supply chain thus allowing us fresh bread.
Hoping our case, and what we found after doing some digging will help others who have been told they can no longer have fresh bread. All prices quoted in the letter we relevant to our surgery/pharmacy, please note, it may be different for yours.
Dear Dr ********
I write with reference to the decision made by your practice to no longer allow me to order the Juvela gluten free fresh bread via prescription and instead force me to order the more expensive and inferior part baked bread . I have made an appointment to discuss this matter with yourself on December 13th, but I wanted to write to you in advance.
Since being diagnosed with coeliac disease 12 years ago I have always paid for and received my bread via the prescription service. At first, before fresh bread became available I would order the Juvela part baked bread but my tummy would never be free from bloating, but after a couple of years Juvela brought out the fresh bread that I have been eating for the past 9 years. Since eating this bread my tummy has been perfect, and apart from the rare times when I have been “poisoned” by gluten in food cooked by others my tummy feels totally normal on a day to day basis, and this is my main reason for wishing you to reconsider your practice’s decision to stop me ordering it, medically, the fresh bread is better for my diet than the part baked.
But this is not the only reason, I was told by the pharmacy and receptionist at The Medical Centre that the reason for this decision is purely financial, but after doing a little homework I am perplexed by this decision. I spoke to Juvela direct and they have told me the costs of the different types of bread are as follows:
Eight loaves of fresh sliced bread should cost £26.64 or about £30.00 including p&p
Six loaves of part baked sliced bread should cost £21.42 or about £24.80 including p&p
At a quick glance the part baked bread does look cheaper, but when you take note that a pack is only 6 loaves compared to the 8 loaves in a pack of fresh bread, fresh bread, per unit becomes the cheaper option.
Including p&p fresh bread per loaf is £3.75 and part baked per loaf is £4.13.
Another interesting point to add (if this is a cost saving exercise) is how your pharmacy goes about purchasing this bread for coeliacs. As stated above, the price of £30 for 8 loaves of fresh bread direct from Juvela includes p&p, but according the pharmacy they pay £30 EXCLUDING p&p for 8 loaves. I am presuming this is because they purchase from a wholesaler? Based on this, rather than punish the coeliac with an inferior product, I suggest the NHS and our Primary Care Trust look into ordering direct from Juvela, thus making an instant saving greater to that gained by forcing the switch to part baked bread. Why punish the patient for the PCT’s bad management?
Other factors that I urge you to consider are:
Part baked bread needs to be cooked before eating; this is much less convenient for a busy mum such as myself but also wastes energy in reheating the bread. While it can be done in the microwave we found that the best results were gained from reheating in the oven, but constantly heating the oven to gas mark 6 just to cook 2 slices of bread as and when needed is a total waste of energy, especially in these lean times when we are all being asked to review our energy consumption.
Part baked bread cannot be frozen like the fresh bread and when I have had it in the past I would end up throwing away at least one loaf from each batch because it had gone out of date, thus meaning I had to re-order more bread and increasing the per unit cost. With the fresh bread no loaf ever goes to waste because I am able to freeze each batch. The bread also lasts a lot longer once in the fridge, continuing to make the fresh bread more economical.
I am so against this decision to stop allowing me to order fresh bread that I am prepared to personally forego any further purchases of the gluten free flour mixes that I have been previously ordering in order to offset the cost and bring my cost to the NHS down
Posted by Adrian on 2/1/2012
GF board
We live in Sittingbourne and were told about 6 months ago that we were to be only allowed bread and flour mixes on prescription.
2 months ago we got another letter saying that no fresh bread would be allowed and that we could only have the long life bread.
Well, we did some digging, spoke to the pharmacy about what they pay for bread and then spoke direct to Juvella, ending up with us writing the following letter to the surgery, which resulted in us winning our case and getting the surgery to admit they could buy cheaper and should change their supply chain thus allowing us fresh bread.
Hoping our case, and what we found after doing some digging will help others who have been told they can no longer have fresh bread. All prices quoted in the letter we relevant to our surgery/pharmacy, please note, it may be different for yours.
Dear Dr ********
I write with reference to the decision made by your practice to no longer allow me to order the Juvela gluten free fresh bread via prescription and instead force me to order the more expensive and inferior part baked bread . I have made an appointment to discuss this matter with yourself on December 13th, but I wanted to write to you in advance.
Since being diagnosed with coeliac disease 12 years ago I have always paid for and received my bread via the prescription service. At first, before fresh bread became available I would order the Juvela part baked bread but my tummy would never be free from bloating, but after a couple of years Juvela brought out the fresh bread that I have been eating for the past 9 years. Since eating this bread my tummy has been perfect, and apart from the rare times when I have been “poisoned” by gluten in food cooked by others my tummy feels totally normal on a day to day basis, and this is my main reason for wishing you to reconsider your practice’s decision to stop me ordering it, medically, the fresh bread is better for my diet than the part baked.
But this is not the only reason, I was told by the pharmacy and receptionist at The Medical Centre that the reason for this decision is purely financial, but after doing a little homework I am perplexed by this decision. I spoke to Juvela direct and they have told me the costs of the different types of bread are as follows:
Eight loaves of fresh sliced bread should cost £26.64 or about £30.00 including p&p
Six loaves of part baked sliced bread should cost £21.42 or about £24.80 including p&p
At a quick glance the part baked bread does look cheaper, but when you take note that a pack is only 6 loaves compared to the 8 loaves in a pack of fresh bread, fresh bread, per unit becomes the cheaper option.
Including p&p fresh bread per loaf is £3.75 and part baked per loaf is £4.13.
Another interesting point to add (if this is a cost saving exercise) is how your pharmacy goes about purchasing this bread for coeliacs. As stated above, the price of £30 for 8 loaves of fresh bread direct from Juvela includes p&p, but according the pharmacy they pay £30 EXCLUDING p&p for 8 loaves. I am presuming this is because they purchase from a wholesaler? Based on this, rather than punish the coeliac with an inferior product, I suggest the NHS and our Primary Care Trust look into ordering direct from Juvela, thus making an instant saving greater to that gained by forcing the switch to part baked bread. Why punish the patient for the PCT’s bad management?
Other factors that I urge you to consider are:
Part baked bread needs to be cooked before eating; this is much less convenient for a busy mum such as myself but also wastes energy in reheating the bread. While it can be done in the microwave we found that the best results were gained from reheating in the oven, but constantly heating the oven to gas mark 6 just to cook 2 slices of bread as and when needed is a total waste of energy, especially in these lean times when we are all being asked to review our energy consumption.
Part baked bread cannot be frozen like the fresh bread and when I have had it in the past I would end up throwing away at least one loaf from each batch because it had gone out of date, thus meaning I had to re-order more bread and increasing the per unit cost. With the fresh bread no loaf ever goes to waste because I am able to freeze each batch. The bread also lasts a lot longer once in the fridge, continuing to make the fresh bread more economical.
I am so against this decision to stop allowing me to order fresh bread that I am prepared to personally forego any further purchases of the gluten free flour mixes that I have been previously ordering in order to offset the cost and bring my cost to the NHS down