Leave our free prescriptions alone!

Once again, I feel the need to defend the Welsh Assembly Government’s policy on free prescriptions, something BMA Cymru Wales fought long and hard to have introduced on the Welsh NHS. The Welsh Conservatives say, if they were to gain power in the Assembly, they would scrap them, bringing in charges for those who can afford to pay the current £7.20 fee English patients currently have to stump up.

Our argument for keeping free prescriptions has been detailed on here before, but I’ll happily outline it again if it means we’ll change the minds of some of the detractors.

Even before prescription charges were phased out, the vast majority of patients were able to avoid paying any way, for a variety of reasons. Where people were having to pay, our members were aware of prescriptions not being collected, simply because of financial hardship. This more often than not affected those whose incomes were just above the level to trigger exemptions on the grounds of low income. In 2001, the Citizens Advice Bureaux published figures showing more than a quarter of people failed to get prescriptions, because of the cost.

Creating a list of exemptions, which is being suggested by the Conservatives, is unfair and unworkable. How do you define what are “serious” enough conditions to trigger these exemptions? All of this would also carry administrative costs to the Welsh NHS, surely, money that would be better spent on making sure patients get access to the medication they eed.

BMA Cymru Wales will continue to lobby to ensure free prescriptions remain in place, for as long as there are people out there, who need convincing of their value.

End to free prescription anomaly

Congratulations to the Welsh Health Minister on ending this discrepancy in the WAG’s free prescriptions policy.

Despite patients in Wales being exempt from paying £7.20 for their prescriptions for the past two years, anyone picking one up at a hospital in England still has to pay. This of course unfairly penalises those who have no choice but to receive treatment across the border.

Thankfully, come the Autumn, this situation will be a thing of the past. Now all we need is for England to fall in line with the rest of the UK and scrap prescription charges.

Welsh doctors call for free prescriptions for English patients

On the second anniversary of the abolition of prescription charges in Wales, I now think it’s high time the scheme is extended to English patients. This surely would be the fairest and simplest option, rather than the Department of Health’s plans to extend a list of exemptions.

It seems ridiculous that for two years now patients in Wales have been able to visit their GP, without worry or fear of being able to meet the cost of any subsequent medication needed, when those same patients, who can be just a few miles across the border in England, have to pay an increased cost each year, from today, £7.20 a time.

I know of one person (and there will be dozens more I’m sure) who lives in Dymock, Gloucestershire, just 10 miles from the Welsh border. This person has to take regular medication for asthma, so is adversely affected by being a few miles outside of Wales. This just causes confusion and inconsistency. This individual is also on a low wage, but not “low” enough to be included in the list of exemptions being drawn up. And that’s why I think abolishing prescription charges altogether is the best way forward, just becoming a disincentive to taking essential medication for those struggling to make ends meet.

Scrapping them altogether could have benefits to society as a whole, as well as for individuals. For example, it could reduce hospital admissions, and help people return to work more quickly following illness.

And the argument used by some critics of free prescriptions that millionaires are using them to pick up items like bonjela for free, doesn’t really stand up. Statistics show that almost a third (20.3 million) of prescription items dispensed in Wales are for cardiovascular treatment. A further 19% (11.5 million) are for the treatment of central nervous system disorders. 1

We know that in Wales we have a high number of people with long term illnesses and these figures reflect the fact that more preventative work is being undertaken, with GPs prescribing medicines which are helping people manage their chronic conditions and keeping them out of hospital, reducing the cost and pressure on the NHS. And that’s why I urge health chiefs in England to follow the example set by Wales.

1 Source – Statistics for Wales – prescriptions by General Medical Practitioners in Wales 2007-08 (http://www.statswales.wales.gov.uk/tableviewer/document.aspx?FileId=1864)

Isn’t it about time England acted on bringing in free prescriptions?

England’s Department of Health is looking to extend the list of long-term conditions that are exempt from prescription charges. Instead of doing that, why not bring in free prescriptions, which is undoubtedly the fairest and simplest option, which the Welsh Assembly Government did nearly two years ago now?

It’s questionable as to the wisdom of just adding to the list of those who don’t have to pay when only 11% of prescriptions currently attract a charge across the boarder any way, and that will soon drop further, with the abolition of charges for cancer patients.

Scrapping prescription charges in Wales was seen by some as being a gimmick, when what it actually shows is a long term investment in managing chronic conditions and improving health and ultimately helping to reduce the cost and pressure on the NHS.

Since being introduced in Wales, the scheme has proved to be both popular and beneficial, particularly to those people with long-term conditions. Before the inception of free prescriptions, there was evidence that some patients didn’t take their medicines, simply because they couldn’t afford all those prescribed by their GPs. Now they can take their medications as advised, free of the worry of payment. Scotland and Northern Ireland have followed our lead, surely now it’s about time England bit the bullet and did the same.

Free prescriptions for all English patients soon too?

Judging by the latest announcement from the DoH, it looks like free prescriptions could slowly be creeping in via the backdoor in England. From today, thousands of cancer patients can start applying for free prescriptions, with that being extended at a later date to any patient with a long term health condition.

With the current charge being £7.10 a time for a prescription, English patients could save themselves up to £100 a year. We are of course exempt from such charges here in Wales and they are also being phased out in Scotland and Northern Ireland. So, as with the Smoking Ban, could England be the last UK nation to bite the bullet and see that charging people for prescriptions is merely a tax on the sick?

Free prescriptions prove their worth as the credit crunch continues to bite

I think it’s worth taking a minute to point out the good that some health policies in Wales are doing to help patients stave off the credit crunch.

Prior to free prescriptions some patients may have thought twice about accessing health care, or not picked up their prescription, because of the cost. This is now one less thing for people in Wales to have to worry about.

It seems almost hardly a day passes now without more news of job losses and companies being put into administration. But there is some small consolation for us here in Wales; at least we know a trip to the doctor’s won’t leave us out of pocket, with everyone being able to benefit from free prescriptions.

This was a policy BMA Cymru Wales fought long and hard to have introduced here and it couldn’t have happened at a more fortuitous time, given the current economic conditions. And with NHS Trusts gradually phasing out hospital parking charges, people need not worry so much about the financial burden a long term health condition may have caused before these policies were introduced. It does however make the £7.10 fee patients in England currently have to pay, even more of a bitter pill to swallow.

WAG hits back over free prescriptions 'nonsense'

I nearly choked on my Sunday morning cornflakes when I read in a London-based tabloid newspaper that the plug could be pulled on free-prescriptions in Wales. I don't know whether there is some concerted attempt to undermine the policy but it does seem that a week does not go by these days without negative and nonsense stories about free prescriptions.

That's why I'm glad that the Welsh Assembly Government has issued such a robust response to this 'nonsense'.

A story in yesterday's News of the World - claiming that Wales is about to end free NHS prescriptions - is absolute nonsense! The Welsh Assembly Government told the News of the World on Friday that there was absolutely no intention of 'pulling the plug' on our free prescription scheme.

The scheme is a long term investment in managing chronic conditions and improving health will ultimately reduce the cost and pressure on the NHS. The scheme is highly popular, and we are delighted that Scotland and Northern Ireland are following our lead. We're at a loss to understand where this story in the News of the World has come from.

Finally - a warm welcome for free prescriptions!

There's been a great deal of discussion on this blog about the policy of free prescriptions. Northern Ireland’s Health Minister's now announced they are following Wales’ lead and abolishing all charges by 2010.

For those doubters, it might be worth reading some of the following quotes. I couldn’t agree more …

MICHAEL McGIMPSEY, HEALTH MINISTER - "A cradle-to-grave health service, free at the point of delivery, is the founding principle of the NHS, which was founded 60 years ago this year. It is a principle that I, and the entire population of Northern Ireland, wholeheartedly support."

IRIS ROBINSON, HEALTH COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON - "I and many of my colleagues have encountered constituents who are sometimes placed in the sad position of choosing to pay for fuel to heat their homes or drugs to help their health. No person in 21st century Northern Ireland should ever be placed in such a position."

Dr BRIAN DUNN, BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION - "This is a very positive step forward and all those patients in Northern Ireland who have found it very hard over the years to pay for their medication will welcome it - as does the BMA. It has been the association's policy, since 2002, that prescriptions should be free to everyone."

HEATHER MONTEVERDE, MACMILLAN CANCER SUPPORT - "Macmillan has been campaigning to have prescription charges for cancer patients abolished for a number of years. We are delighted the minister has listened to us and to all those who demanded free prescriptions."

MICHELLE O NEILL, SINN FÉIN HEALTH SPOKESPERSON - "This move is long overdue and will make the burden of those suffering illness a lot lighter. Sinn Féin had launched a campaign over a year ago to see that inequalities in health provision were removed and we support the Minister in the delivery of this project."

CARMEL HANNA, SDLP HEALTH SPOKESPERSON - "There was always something very wrong with having a tax on the sick. Unfortunately for many people they simply couldn't afford the high prescription charges for necessary drugs and so went without."

KIERAN MCCARTHY, ALLIANCE HEALTH SPOKESPERSON - "This move means that people who struggle to pay for important medicine to combat cancer and other long-term illnesses can now have some small element of peace of mind in future. "

PATRICIA GORDON, MS SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND - "The MS Society has lobbied the minister for health on a number of occasions around this issue and he has proven himself to be a man of his word. When we met him earlier this year on the issue he promised to do all that he could and this announcement is a real boost to ordinary people who have MS across Northern Ireland."