Paying the Price: Prescription Charges and People with Long-Term Conditions.
This report, by the Prescription Charges Coalition, highlights the mounting evidence that prescription charges in England are presenting an unacceptable barrier to the effective use of medicines by making them based on ability to pay rather than clinical need.
The Prescription Charges Coalition, of which Disability Rights UK is a member, is a group of 29 organisations campaigning to end unfair prescription charges for people with long-term medical conditions
The report finds:
- 73% of total survey respondents are paying for their prescriptions
- 64% require more than 13 prescription items a year
- 35% who pay for each prescription have not collected at least one item due to the cost, with three quarters of this group reporting that their health got worse as a result. 10% said that they ended up in hospital as a direct consequence of not taking their medication
- 29% who paid for their prescriptions and did not have a Prescription Prepayment Certificate reported not taking their medicine as prescribed either occasionally or often. Over half of these gave the cost of the prescription as their main reason for doing this
- 76% had not heard of the NHS Low Income Scheme
- Only 14% of respondents found out about the Prescription Prepayment Certificate from their GP, and 5% from their consultant. Combined, this is fewer than the 23% who found out from friends and family. 30% of our survey respondents who did not have a Prescription Prepayment Certificate felt it was unaffordable
- The majority of respondents do not claim any benefits whatsoever, with 73% of those who pay for their prescriptions reporting that they received no financial support
- Over 36% of respondents reported they are unhappy with their schedule for repeat prescriptions, citing cost and inconvenience as the main reasons for this
- Qualitative responses indicate that prescription costs are impacting detrimentally on respondents’ medical conditions and quality of life and are felt to be a significant burden in addition to their lifelong illness. Respondents also highlighted lack of parity for medical exemptions across conditions and parts of the UK.
The report recommends extending prescription charge exemption to all those with long term conditions as well as the abandonment of a rigid 28 day prescribing policy.
It also proposes that more information on prescription exemptions, the low income scheme and prepayment certificates should be given routinely to people with long-term conditions at the point of diagnosis, as part of care planning, where medicine is dispensed and in any relevant medicine reviews.
Following the introduction of Universal Credit, the report recommends that prescription charge exemption should be retained for all those who are currently eligible.
You can download the report at http://www.prescriptionchargescoalition.org.uk/paying-the-price-report.html
You can find out more about prescription charges, exemptions and prepayment certificates from our Factsheet F14 - prescription charges/health benefits.