Cost Of Prescriptions To Increase In England

Along with the cuts that are being made in public spending by the Government recently there are also price increases that will directly affect the general public. The Government has just announced that as of 1st April there will be an increase to the cost of prescriptions in the UK. At the moment England is the only part of the British Isles still charging for prescriptions, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland having already removed the charges. The cost of a prescription in the UK will rise by 20p to be 7.40 per item.

Amidst calls to scrap the charges from many health experts, the Government is defending its decision as taking the charges away will leave the UK health service with a shortfall of 450 m per year. Taking into consideration the salaries of the staff, upkeep and cleanliness of medical facilities and hospital furniture, the Department of Health argues that taking away the prescription fee will leave patients without vital services.

David Camerons Government have however pledged to put an additional 10.7 billion into investing into the NHS. And according to statistics around 90% of prescription items are already given out free of charge due to many people qualifying for free or reduced price prescriptions.

However many people, including members of the BMA Council, are questioning the charges and picking holes in the current system, citing it as unfair and chaotic. They argue that it is unfair that people in England have to pay for their medication when others in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland do not. It also means that people with long-term illnesses are going to be very much out of pocket and it seems that it is the disadvantaged members of society that are having to pay the price by having to constantly put their hand in their pocket when they visit their local medical suppliers.

In early March 2011 Scottish MPs voted to scrap the charges in Scotland even though they came up against opposition from The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats as they felt that the money could be better spent in other areas. However the Scottish Health Minister said that scrapping the charge would reduce the long term cost to the health service and also it would no longer put people off going to see their local Doctor.

These increased charges in the UK come at a time when the Department of Health has announced that dental charges will also rise; so it is not surprising that many feel that it would be cheaper to buy a diagnostic set and save money by not visiting the Doctor or Dentist at all!