The REAL reason no one should have to pay for their prescriptions - and it ... trends now
It was called as 'a dark day' for patients... which could seem a slightly, erm, dramatic way to describe a 25p increase in prescription charges.
The hike took the cost of medications to £9.90 per item.
But the point being made, by community pharmacists who probably know about these things, was really that these charges, for a long while, have been prohibitively expensive for many.
They called them 'a tax on the working poor'.
No doubt they, like many doctors I know, think these fees should be scrapped altogether.
And as a health reporter of more than two decades I reckon they've got a point — not simply as an act of charity, but because in the long run, research shows it will actually save the NHS a packet.
There are many people with long-term conditions who don't receive their prescriptions free of charge
It's counterintuitive, I know. But hear me out.
Firstly, if you do pay for your medications, as I do, it might surprise to know that most people don't.
Swathes of people — under 16s, many under 18s and everyone over 60, diabetics, pregnant women and new mums, to name just a few — are exempt from the charges, meaning the new increase will make zero difference to them.
If you add all these groups up, around 90 per cent of all NHS prescriptions are given free anyway.
In my opinion, many of the exemptions are arbitrary or ill-thought-out – for example, why is the levy waived for over-60s, when retirement age is 65?
Why do women get HRT at a massive discount of £20 for a whole year, while some serious conditions, such as asthma, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s and
