Anger over prescription charge rise

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One pharmacist said he and his colleagues are being used by the Government as thankless "tax collectors", and branded the charges a "stealth tax" on patients.

The Government announced the cost of a prescription in England will rise 10p from April 1 to £7.20, despite calls from the British Medical Association for the charge to be abolished as it has been in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Prescriptions in Wales are already free and will be so in Northern Ireland from next year and in Scotland from 2011.

Ministers defended their position, saying the NHS will raise between £435 and £437 million in 2009/10 from charging patients for medicines.

A Government review of prescription costs is currently ongoing with a view to extending the list of medical conditions exempt from payment.

But the BMA said in its submission to the review that charging people could act as a disincentive to them taking medications necessary for their health.

It said simply extending the current list of exemptions without a fundamental overhaul of the whole system would "create a new set of arbitrary winners and losers".

The current system is "outdated, iniquitous, and detrimental to the health of many patients", it added.

BMA chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum said: "Making the list of exemptions longer will not make it fairer. Ultimately, we could end up with a situation where only a tiny proportion of prescriptions attract a charge, which would be nonsensical. Abolishing prescription charges altogether is the fairest and the simplest option."