Pharmacists blast government over ‘shameful’ increase to NHS prescription cost

Leading pharmacists have blasted the government over “shameful” increases in the cost of NHS prescriptions.

From 1 May the cost of NHS prescriptions will increase from £9.65 per item to £9.90.

Pharmacists across the country have hit out at the increase, warning it will disadvantage working patients on lower incomes.

The National Pharmacy Association said the move will create an “arbitrary barrier” to people’s ability to receive healthcare.

According to an NPA survey, patients have already reported not getting regular medication due to the costs.

Antibiotics, pain killers, asthma inhalers, blood pressure medication and antidepressants are examples of the most commonly reported medicines which patients have not taken due to cost.

Hundreds of pharmacies reported seeing patients decline medicines due to the cost of prescriptions one to five times a week.

Nick Kaye, chair of the National Pharmacy Association, said: “To allow the prescription charge to rise to this level is a shameful neglect of working people on low fixed incomes, who are not exempt.

“Many people already choose not to collect some or all their prescription medicines because of cost, with potentially dire health consequences.

“As pharmacists, we understand the healing power of medicines. So naturally we oppose arbitrary barriers to people getting the medicines they need.”

“This is a tax on the working poor that deepens the cost of living crisis for them. It’s scandalous that the Government imposes a £650 million a year tax on people who simply have the bad fortune to be ill or have a certain long-term medical condition.

“As pharmacists, we are health care professionals and have no interest in being tax collectors.”

The NHS in England gets a revenue of more than £600 million from prescription charges compared to its total budget of £187 billion.

Prescription charges do not apply in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in England Ms Tase Oputu said: “This is a dark day for patients…Amid the cost of living crisis, the rise in prescription charges will hit working people on low incomes the hardest. The relentless annual increase in the prescription charge is making medicines unaffordable for many. This is totally unacceptable. You can, it seems, put a price on health.”

“As the Government looks to reduce spending on benefits, medicines play a crucial role in helping people stay healthy and in work.

“Prescription charges should be scrapped in England, as they have been in the rest of the UK.”

The Department for Health and Social Care was approached for comment.