947 medicines/pharmacies

You have now got me thinking with this thread. My husband has a gene which means he is prone to blood clots and has to take warfrin for the rest of his life. He has 6 week blood tests and his dosage for the next 6 weeks is determined on his test results. We hope to relocate in the next 12 to 18 months but have not thought about his condition at all until now.

Any body else with this condition?????

Hi,

I haven't got Neils condition, but do have diabetes and high blood pressure. So need regular checks and medication.

Do you have private medical cover ?...we don't .

If you don't, make sure you get your new E111 ( they are issuing one for this year up to 31st december , then issuing new 'card' style from 1st Jan 2006.If you have an old E111, it is no longer valid and you must re-apply. Quite simple , just get a form from the UK post office , fill it in and they stamp it and it is done. Apparantly, we will be issued with the new type on Jan 1st automatically.

As soon as you arrive, you need to register at ASL BR1, Viale Europa,72019, San Vito dei Normanni

Tel: 0831 951309

The first time we went, it was a bit confusing, as I wasn't too well at the time and had nearly run out of tablets ( kept putting off going !!) and we had to wait a while.But i saw a doctor there and he just took my presciption from me and gave me the tablets after a quick examination.( he didn't take my blood pressure tho' !!!)

Anyway we went back a month later ( when the tablets ran out again) and this time we were registered properly under the E111 until 31st December 2005 and given the name of an English speaking doctor : Dott. Agnano : phone 0831 982424 , Via Crispi, San Vito dei Normanni.
We think we should have been registered the first time but as I was unwell, I didn't question anything ! And as long as I had my tablets i was happy !!!

On the second occassion, we did have the receipt from the Questura in Brindisi where we had registered for our Carte di Soggiorno. Quite frankly, we left it a while to apply and would strongly recommend you get your carte di Soggiorno as soon as you can as it certainly makes life easier. We had to wait a month to pick up the proper Carte di Soggiorno ( which we now have !!)

We went to the Doctors at 8am the next morning to find out about appointments etc, he was there on his own, no receptionist, and saw us straight away. Lovely chap.....but he said we can't register properley until we are resident ( which we have now applied for - again ready in a month) but we can go to him when we need to. Must confess he didn't speak English to me, but i tend to find this, if I start off in my 'bad' Italian, the people here tend to carry on in Italian. I am sure, if I had asked him to he would have spoken English !!

To be honest, the most trouble we had , was from the UK Dept of Work and Pensions. We applied for the E106 ages before we came and when I phoned them they couldn't have been more helpful ,but actually getting the E106 was a nightmare.

It may be worth giving them a ring Neil, as the E106 will cover you I think until you are sorted out over here.

Sorry if I've gone on a bit , and hope you don't already know all this. if you do , perhaps it may help someone else. It would also be a great help if others could give us their experiences.

[QUOTE=neal hampson]You have now got me thinking with this thread. My husband has a gene which means he is prone to blood clots and has to take warfrin for the rest of his life. He has 6 week blood tests and his dosage for the next 6 weeks is determined on his test results. We hope to relocate in the next 12 to 18 months but have not thought about his condition at all until now.

Any body else with this condition?????[/QUOTE]

This may be useful as well.

I got all the previous info when we were still in the Uk from [url]www.info.Naples@fco.gov.uk[/url] which is the British Consulate in Naples which I was told covered our area. There appears to be a British Consulate in Bari but there is no E-mail address.

The Naples Office was very helpful , I just explained the situation and she really looked into San Vito dei Normanni and sent me all this info including English speaking doctors.(all by E-mail)

There is also another office with English speaking staff in San Vito :

Ufficio URP (Ufficio Realazioni con il Pubblico)
Piazza Carducci ( Palazzo dell'Orologio)
San Vito dei Normanni
Tel: 00 39 0831 9585236
E-mail : [url]www.commune.sanvitodeinormanni.br.it[/url]

This is the Public relations office for San Vito and apparantly has English Speaking Staff.

If you need any help now or in the future , let me know and I'll be happy to help in anyway I can
Cheers
Lyn

I too have high blood pressure and am on a repeat prescripton, we are moving to a village near Pescara in march, although I am hoping to take a couple of months supply with me it seems that a visit to the doctor is a high priority. I have received the new E111 card it will valid from the 1st sept 2005 (we applied last sept). Is getting the E106 a problem? maybe I ought to apply now.

Hi Stribs,

I wouldcertainly give them a call. I think Istarted talking to them about 6 months before..and as I said they were really helpful and assured me there would be no problem. At least they can advise you what and when to do it all.

We filled in the necessary forms and sent them back a good while before we were leaving, problem is we didn't have an address in Italy until we actually came out here and completed on the Italian house purchase and for some reason they refused to issue it until we had an address in Italy.

When we had completed, we notified them and gave them our postal address ( we don't actually have an address to the house and we collect mail from the Post Office in san Vito dei Normanni ).

3 weeks later ( and nearly out of tablets !!) still no E106 ( which we thought we needed before we could see a proper doctor ).
They assured Alex that it had been sent that day..he asked why it hadn't already been sent and they wouldn't give him a straight answer !!!!
Another couple of weeks went by and he phoned again, and it was still on someones desk !!!!

After losing his temper ( he is very mild-mannered , so this was really rare for him but he really lost his rag ) he managed to persuade them to send it to our sons' address (which is where are UK mail was being directed ) and our son forwarded it on.

BUT, don't worry about when you first come here. Just find out the info about you ASL for your area (if you do a search on British Consulates in Italy , it should give the Consulate nearest to you if you E-mail them, I'm sure they will help with address etc ) ..pop along there with your E111 as soon as you can and explain situation. Ours were very helpful and as I said, I just gave him my English repeat presciption and he actually gave me the tablets.

Sorry it's a bit long again but hope it helps.
Lyn

A new law just passed and soon medicines will be sold in supermarkets like in the uk.

Prices will finall go down!

I just hope the the farmacie will not have to close with the loss of business, as the doctors that work in them are very helpful... it is not quite the same when you go to boots here!

Paola

thanks for info about farmacie...I thought I had got the gist on the TV and in the local newspaper, but not being fluent yet wasn't 100% sure.

This would be good.....but I suspect certain medicines will still have to be got at bona-fide farmacie won't they (same as UK ) or are supermarkets planning to open chemists like Tesco in UK ?

In Uk everyone in our area who had Diabetes was put on a cholestral tablet to counter-balance the diet, but when I visited the Dott. here in Italy, he said they don't do this here but until i get residency and register with him he thought it best to carry on until I see a diabetes specialist which he will refer me to when I'm registered. I got my Blood pressure Tablets under the State sheme ( free) but the Cholestral cost me about £25 (just one months supply- I had a fit )..can't wait for residency in more ways than one !!!

Thanks for info, will have to ring next week, the list of things to do is getting longer & longer.
I suppose searching for the good life never comes free

Stribs,

tell me about it, but is worth every penny.

Just strolled up the lane with Husband and dog, chatted to old boy up the road ( he is 80 and still working the land) , his wife was up till 4am bottling tomatoes, and I've just sun-dried some !!! well nearly !!- he gave me a whole carrier bag full yesterday.

Up the road neighbours gave us 4 melons ( there are only 2 of us !!)

it is wonderful !!! Get over here a.s.a.p.