A woman who needs to inject life-saving medication three times daily has been denied an NHS prescription for syringes “due to cutbacks”.

Charlotte Bonwick, 23, needs a variety of medication to help her life-long battle with ill health.

She was born with her intestines outside her body.

She needs to inject medication every eight hours to stabilise her body which has been ravaged by sepsis.

Charlotte’s doctor told her she cannot have an NHS prescription for hypodermic syringes any longer because of cutbacks.

She said she was advised to get her clean needles from an exchange used by drug addicts.

Charlotte, from East Grinstead, said: “This whole thing came out of the blue, I had no warning whatsoever – it’s made me really upset because now I can’t rely on them.

“Whenever I want to go and pick up my prescription they said they lost it, that’s how it started.

“They couldn’t tell me where the prescription was – it came across a bit strange.

“I have been on drugs since was born. It seems they are just phasing me out, they told me that the drugs were just too expensive, but these are the only ones that work.

“The surgery I go to told me that I couldn’t have needles any more.

“How am I supposed to take my medication?

“I was told by my doctor that they don’t have them because it’s too expensive.”

Charlotte lives with her parents as she is so ill she cannot work.

She has to borrow money from her parents to afford a private prescription for syringes – which cost £500 a month – because she is too fearful of going to a local exchange.

She said she contacted Horsham and Mid Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to raise her issue. The CCG initially responded – but she said it has since ignored her for three months.

She said: “They told me to go the needle exchange.

“It shouldn’t be about costs, they should be caring for people who need it regardless.”

A spokesman for the CCG said: “NHS Horsham and Mid Sussex CCG has a pharmaceutical formulary which provides guidance on what medicines can be prescribed by local GPs and appropriate quantities for patient safety.

“There are no restrictions on anti-sickness drugs on the basis of cost alone and it is available for GPs to prescribe in accordance with the product licence and the maximum licensed dose.

“Needles for the administration of medication cannot be prescribed on an NHS prescription by any GP surgery nationally as needles are not listed in the Drug Tariff and this has not changed. The CCG would never advocate someone purchasing their own needles or syringes.”