End free prescriptions to ease NHS cash crisis, say doctors

DOCTORS are calling for an end to free prescriptions in Scotland to reduce the financial burden on the NHS.

A British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland conference this week will host a debate on a motion asking the Scottish Government to scrap the SNP flagship policy.

The motion, which has been put forward by doctors from Ayrshire and Arran, suggests a means-tested system should be brought in.

General practitioners from across the country are expected to raise concerns about the spiralling pressures within general practice at the meeting in Glasgow on Friday.

Health Secretary Shona Robison is set to attend the conference, which will also discuss funding, workload and whether there will be enough GPs to fulfil a new contract, expected to be unveiled next year.

Free prescriptions were introduced to reduce health inequalities and ensure people with long-term illnesses could keep taking medicines. But last year it was revealed the NHS in Scotland was paying nearly £25million on free prescriptions for ‘over-the-counter’ remedies such as throat sweets, while the total cost of free medicines for 2014-15 was £1.19billion, a 27 per cent rise in ten years.

With staff shortages and increasing demand on the NHS, doctors are now questioning whether the policy can continue.

Dr John Kyle, of Ayrshire and Arran Local Medical Committee, said: ‘Across Scotland we have an ageing population, patient demand is increasing and new medicines and treatment are costing more.

‘I don’t think doctors want to see patients charged for anything but I think we really need to address this financial crisis.’

Doctors have suggested that a means-tested system could include exemptions for children, patients on low incomes or those with lifethreatening illnesses such as cancer.

The Conservatives have been calling for an end to free prescriptions since 2014. This would take Scotland back to a paying system like that still in force in England.

South of the Border, patients pay £8.20 an item for medicines they are prescribed. However, there are a number of exceptions including the under-16s and over-60s, pregnant women and those on income support.

Scottish Conservative spokesman Jackson Carlaw said: ‘We have long argued that universal free prescriptions are an unnecessary drain on the NHS.’

But last night Miss Robison dismissed the call for a means-tested system. She said: ‘Prescription charges were nothing more than a tax on ill health that Scotland’s poorest families could ill afford. The Scottish Government is committed to keeping prescriptions free.’