Should Bonjela be free on the NHS?

MORE than a decade has passed since prescription charges were abolished in Wales, but the debate about whether millionaires should be able to get medication for free rumbles on.

There are surprises in the giant spreadsheets which detail the items prescribed last year. Everyday products such as Bonjela, Gaviscon and deodorants show up in the long lists.

Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies is making a new push for an end to the era of universal free prescriptions.

He argues there is “no such thing” as a free prescription and there are better ways to spend taxpayers’ money.

The introduction of the policy in April 2007 was a powerful moment in Wales’ devolution journey. It sent out a message that the Assembly in Cardiff Bay – which had suffered such a shaky start – really did have the power to change life on this side of Offa’s Dyke.

People who had reached into their wallet each time they went to pick up a prescription throughout their adult lives were suddenly handed their medication free of charge. It ranks alongside the ban on single-use carrier bags as a bold illustration of the power of devolved government to shape modern Wales.

Scotland and Northern Ireland followed in Wales’ wake but England is holding out. There, the prescription charge has hit £8.80.

Bringing back the charge in Wales would make many people wince. Workers would grumble that their taxes fund the NHS and that after so many years of wage stagnation (in a nation which sits at the bottom of the UK earnings table) the last thing they need is another charge. Many medical professionals would also oppose the move, arguing that for the NHS to be true to its ideal of providing universal free healthcare no section of the population should face a financial penalty.

In recent years there have been discussions about the long-term affordability of the NHS and some policy wonks have floated the idea of “co-payments” for services; anything that could seen as a first step to whittling away free healthcare would be strongly opposed.

A practical argument against charges is that the bureaucracy involved in identifying people who do not qualify for an exemption and then policing the system would eat away savings.

But the Conservatives clearly reckon taxpayers want thriftier stewardship of their cash, and will not let this go.