Tuesday 11 March 2014
Devolution is good for your health
Calton is very glad he lives in a devolved Scotland, with the announcement today that prescription charges in England are going to rise to £8.05 in April this year. Yes, he knows that some people can well afford to pay for their medicine but there is increasing evidence that the high cost of prescriptions, particularly for people with chronic conditions such as asthma, coupled with a drive to limit the amount GPs prescribe in one go, is having a real negative impact on the health of the working poor - those who earn just enough to make them ineligible for free prescriptions but not enough to cope with extra expenditure, especially when they are ill. Thank goodness we have a more enlightened attitude here in Scotland and we didn't need to be independent to implement it.
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Many people get "free" prescriptions - children, pensioners, those on benefits etc. I haven't checked recently since I qualified for my bus pass but there used to be quite reasonably priced season tickets, if you require frequent, repeat prescriptions. So it is really not onerous for most people.
ReplyDeleteI can remember the fuss when the prescription charge was put up from one shilling to one shilling and sixpence!