# Updating SIP card?



## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

I went to the farmacia today to pick up my husband's repeat prescription. When they scanned his SIP card they said it needed renewing. They said it was a temporary card.

He has had his card since 2005 so definitely not a temporary card. We have not received any communication saying that the card needs renewing.

It is not easy for us to get to the medical centre to get a new card but if we do not my husband cannot get his prescription.

Has anyone else experienced this?


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

DunWorkin said:


> I went to the farmacia today to pick up my husband's repeat prescription. When they scanned his SIP card they said it needed renewing. They said it was a temporary card.
> 
> He has had his card since 2005 so definitely not a temporary card. We have not received any communication saying that the card needs renewing.
> 
> ...


Is it paper/card or a plastic one ?


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## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

Not sure if this is relevant but my repeat prescription only lasts for 12 months before my doctor has to ok it for a further 12 months.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

DunWorkin said:


> I went to the farmacia today to pick up my husband's repeat prescription. When they scanned his SIP card they said it needed renewing. They said it was a temporary card.
> 
> He has had his card since 2005 so definitely not a temporary card. We have not received any communication saying that the card needs renewing.
> 
> ...


under what circumstances was the original issued?

and yes, as VFR says, is it plastic or card?


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

It is a plastic card, like a credit card.

He is about 5 months into a year's repeat prescription. But it is not the prescription that is the problem it is the card.

The original card was issued when we moved here. My husband receives UK state pension and is covered through that.

Looks like we need to go to the medical centre and try and sort this out. As I said before that is not easy to get to, it is a long walk from the station.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

DunWorkin said:


> It is a plastic card, like a credit card.
> 
> He is about 5 months into a year's repeat prescription. But it is not the prescription that is the problem it is the card.
> 
> ...


yes you do need to go there

was the card originally linked to the S1 via his pension? 

in other words, was he already in receipt of his pension when you moved here?

If not, you need to get in touch with the DWP for a new S1


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> yes you do need to go there
> 
> was the card originally linked to the S1 via his pension?
> 
> ...



Yes, he was receiving his pension before we came here in October 2004.

I hope I can sort this out today otherwise I will not be able to get his prescription.

What I don't understand is why we did not receive any form of warning. The first we knew was when the farmacia said his card was no longer valid. It could only have just happened as we use it every month.

My husband is 78 and not in good health. If he had needed urgent medical treatment and we had not found out about his card we would have been in real trouble.

I will report back what happens today so that others in the same situation will know what is happening.


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

UPDATE

We went to the main Centro de Salud in Campello yesterday (not our small local one) and explained the problem my husband was having with his SIP card.

It appears that older SIP cards that do not have a bar code across the front are being replaced. Our cards (obtained in 2005) were the old style without a bar code. The receptionist changed both my husband's and mine on the spot.

The problem now is that it seems that all my husbands repeat prescriptions have disappeared. The farmacia said we now have to go to our GP to get them re-instated.

Although upgrading the cards turned out to be a simple operation I am a bit upset that we were not told about this. If my husband had needed urgent medical treatment rather than going to the farmacia for his repeat prescription the situation could have been a lot more serious.

So, everyone - especially in Valencia - don't know if it affects elsewhere, check your SIP card. If it doesn't have a bar code on the front go to your local Centro de Salud to have it updated. Then check that repeat prescriptions are still there.


This an example of the card without bar code












This is new one with bar code


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

DunWorkin said:


> UPDATE
> 
> We went to the main Centro de Salud in Campello yesterday (not our small local one) and explained the problem my husband was having with his SIP card.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the update. SIP cards are specific to the Valencia region - though it's possible something similar is happening in other regions.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Ours in Andalucía don't have a bar code but have a chip (like those in chip and pin credit/debit cards) instead


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

We have a bar code. No idea what it is for though as the repeats are on a sheet of paper that has a bar code & that is all that is used, Don't even show card. No chip though. Then again it's only 2 years since we got computers ! :lol:


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

gus-lopez said:


> We have a bar code. No idea what it is for though as the repeats are on a sheet of paper that has a bar code & that is all that is used, Don't even show card. No chip though. Then again it's only 2 years since we got computers ! :lol:


It has nothing to do with the sheet of paper. Does your SIP card have a bar code on it (as in my second photo). If not then you will not be covered for health care.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

DunWorkin said:


> UPDATE
> 
> We went to the main Centro de Salud in Campello yesterday (not our small local one) and explained the problem my husband was having with his SIP card.
> 
> ...


The authorities rarely notify you that things are going to run out, have to be paid etc I'm afraid. You have to keep track of things yourself. One that comes to mind is the digital signature that some of us have use for example to do an online tax declaration. That runs out after 2 years and they don't notify you.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

DunWorkin said:


> It has nothing to do with the sheet of paper. Does your SIP card have a bar code on it (as in my second photo). If not then you will not be covered for health care.


gus doesn't live in the Valencia area, so doesn't have a SIP card.

Each region does still have a slightly different system - & apparently even within regions. Like you, I live in the Valencia region (so have a SIP), but repeat prescriptions are on paper, not stored on the card. The the card _is _passed through some kind of reader which records when you pick up a prescription though, because at my last hospital appt the doctor knew that I was quite often picking up my prescriptions late - I'm not running out so quickly, because most of the time I don't need to take as much pain relief as I used to. 

We do have bar codes on our cards though


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> gus doesn't live in the Valencia area, so doesn't have a SIP card.
> 
> Each region does still have a slightly different system - & apparently even within regions. Like you, I live in the Valencia region (so have a SIP), but repeat prescriptions are on paper, not stored on the card. The the card _is _passed through some kind of reader which records when you pick up a prescription though, because at my last hospital appt the doctor knew that I was quite often picking up my prescriptions late - I'm not running out so quickly, because most of the time I don't need to take as much pain relief as I used to.
> 
> We do have bar codes on our cards though


My husband has the paperwork showing a repeat prescription until next May. Despite this, when the farmacia scanned his new card it did not show the prescription and they would not give it to us.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

DunWorkin said:


> My husband has the paperwork showing a repeat prescription until next May. Despite this, when the farmacia scanned his new card it did not show the prescription and they would not give it to us.


I guess it's fairly logical that it wouldn't be - albeit a pita

When you go to fill a prescription, do you (usually, when your card is actually working! ) just pass the card over or do they need the paperwork?

I have to hand over the paperwork..... which gets tatty when it's for a year of repeat prescriptions! ( I keep it in my purse)


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Seems like the old Aragonese kingdom are all behind as usual. Here in Andalucía we have the chipped cards and while the Dr gives you a piece of paper which shows the medications, how long the prescription is valid and the dosage, everything is also on the card so one just shows the card (at any farmacia) and you get your meds. They can even see when you are on your last one and mark the boxes as a reminder to see the Dr for a renewal which for most regular/long-term stuff is once a year. The card also shows whether you pay pensioner rate or not.


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

I remember when I went to Malaga area to work for a while & went to see a doctor who looked at my SIP card and said "no good here", even tore up the prescriptions that we had so ended up having to register there.
When we came back to Valencia & visited out own medical center (yup you guessed it)


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> I guess it's fairly logical that it wouldn't be - albeit a pita
> 
> When you go to fill a prescription, do you (usually, when your card is actually working! ) just pass the card over or do they need the paperwork?
> 
> I have to hand over the paperwork..... which gets tatty when it's for a year of repeat prescriptions! ( I keep it in my purse)


When we go for a repeat prescription we have to show the paperwork and give them the SIP card.


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

The bit that always makes me chuckle is that it appears to be quite a good computerised system, yet they still have to use a little knife to cut the info part from the box and then stick it onto their sheet of paper. :confused2:


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

DunWorkin said:


> My husband has the paperwork showing a repeat prescription until next May. Despite this, when the farmacia scanned his new card it did not show the prescription and they would not give it to us.



That chemustsounds a bit of a jobsworth to me. He should have used a bit of discretion or duty of care.


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

Pesky Wesky said:


> The authorities rarely notify you that things are going to run out, have to be paid etc I'm afraid. You have to keep track of things yourself. One that comes to mind is the digital signature that some of us have use for example to do an online tax declaration. That runs out after 2 years and they don't notify you.


The one from FNMT (Royal Mint) runs for 3 years. They also send you an email reminder when it is due for renewal. IIRC the procedure says you can renew once online, and then the next time it's personal application. Having said that, I renewed online in 2013, and they have made some changes this year (I think to the security protocols) so they sent an email asking me to renew and it's now renewed to 2019.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

CapnBilly said:


> The one from FNMT (Royal Mint) runs for 3 years. They also send you an email reminder when it is due for renewal. IIRC the procedure says you can renew once online, and then the next time it's personal application. Having said that, I renewed online in 2013, and they have made some changes this year (I think to the security protocols) so they sent an email asking me to renew and it's now renewed to 2019.


These things are changing all the time and bit by bit they are getting more efficient I find


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Roy C said:


> That chemustsounds a bit of a jobsworth to me. He should have used a bit of discretion or duty of care.


I'm not so sure. If the prescription doesn't appear on the new card the problem doesn't seem to be with the chemist. I presume S/He cannot give the prescription without the verification on the card.
It seems to be more of a problem of transfering data to a new card.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I'm not so sure. If the prescription doesn't appear on the new card the problem doesn't seem to be with the chemist. I presume S/He cannot give the prescription without the verification on the card.
> It seems to be more of a problem of transfering data to a new card.


Plus, if the pharmacist dispensed medication that was not on the card, I suppose they wouldn't get reimbursed for the cost from the Health Service.


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

Roy C said:


> That chemustsounds a bit of a jobsworth to me. He should have used a bit of discretion or duty of care.


The chemist sounds it should read or even pharmacist:embarassed:


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Lynn R said:


> Plus, if the pharmacist dispensed medication that was not on the card, I suppose they wouldn't get reimbursed for the cost from the Health Service.


Which is probably the nitty gritty of it all.


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> Plus, if the pharmacist dispensed medication that was not on the card, I suppose they wouldn't get reimbursed for the cost from the Health Service.


I am sure that is the case and the item on this prescription costs €500 a month. I am sure they don't want to run the risk of losing that.


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

DunWorkin said:


> I am sure that is the case and the item on this prescription costs €500 a month. I am sure they don't want to run the risk of losing that.


That's fair enough then.........


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