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Prescription fees to fall from April



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Published Date: 28 October 2007
PRESCRIPTION charges will fall from next April under plans unveiled by the SNP Government yesterday, writes Eddie Barnes.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has already pledged that the charge of £6.85 will be scrapped by the next Scottish election in 2011.

Yesterday she vowed that the charge would gradually be brought down, the first reduction coming next year.

Aides said yesterday they could not say exactly by how much it would be cut, but promised it would be a "substantial" reduction.

Ministers are believed to still be in negotiations with their civil servants over exactly how much of a cut can be afforded this year, with budgets across the whole government already stretched.

As if to steal Labour's clothes on the NHS, Sturgeon invoked the memory of Aneurin Bevan, the Labour minister who created it.



The full article contains 141 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

 
1

scotleag,

28/10/2007 03:01:19

Nye Bevan was a giant of politics. A socialist and internationalist who detested petty nationalism. But if the Nats are so keen to quote such a titan of British politics, maybe they should heed what he said when urged by colleagues to support unilateral nuclear disarmament - "Do not send me naked into the conference chamber."

2

S'me,

28/10/2007 05:03:24

This will lead to wastage, unnecessary prescribing, overprescribing. People will demand medication from the doctors.. a lot of which are expensive and unnecessary. Ask any pharmacist and they will tell you of the wastage in the system. There are genuine cases of help needed, these can be targeted without resorting to emotional arguments for free for all drugs.
Its all about headlines.

3

S'me,

28/10/2007 05:05:29

Our NHS money should be targeted to areas of medical need, not political need. We all pay for it, its not free.

4

A Better Way,

28/10/2007 11:09:55

Yes your right about unnecassary prescribing, but surely that is more a demonstration of weakness and disregard by the Doctors. It has less to do with basic rights.

According to your philosophy you want us to go over to the US system where people are opting for affordable Medical Insurance because of the cost, that limit discounts on medication. The consequence of that are that many are not seeking medication to preserve their allocation for their kids or elderly relatives.

Nice one SMe, we already loose many Scots every year because they neglect their health.

Scotleag, All great politicians have their pluses and minuses. Nye Bevan is definately one of them. Can you tell us exactly what Blair and Brown have in common with Nye at all. Get a grip man.

5

TimW1234,

Ottawa, Canada 28/10/2007 11:12:45

I was paying $11.99 (CDN) per prescription until I spoke to the pharmacist/owner and we negotiated a fee of $6.99 (CDN).

Because he is not part of a huge chain of drugstores I was able to get this reduction. I don't think the large pharmacy firms would even consider such a reduction for a second because they are greedy and must maintain their fancy-dancy computer databases and lavish print-outs of drugs and side-effects. You can get that information and more from the web.

Ridiculous.

6

karin m,

28/10/2007 11:47:06

5 Do you even understand what a national health service is or how it works???????

7

Douglas,

Bathgate 28/10/2007 12:33:45

#7 karin m: You've been around here long enough to know the answer to those questions.
Timmy just had another fantasy moment.:Ob

8

TimW1234,

Ottawa, Ontario 28/10/2007 16:35:28

Well, I don't really know why everyone is in such a tizzy for.

Canada does have a National Health Service and in Ontario iti s called OHIP (Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan).

And Douglas from Bathgate

You should be ashamed of yourself yesterday for calling Canada a colony. We are the second-largest country in the world and have vast national/natural resources that the rest of the world can only dream of and covet.

If I appear to you to be a "pompous oaf" you are a trite commentor. I do NOT have "an over-inflated ego" and will leave that particular personality quirk to YOU, Dougie Baby.

When I see my endocrinologist or GP or registered dietician I am not charged- especially if it is a specialist and you are referred by your primary doctor (GP).

9

Masque,

28/10/2007 16:51:58

TimW1234, Ottawa, Canada is an obvious Walter Mitty. He likes to come online and pretend he's a bit more "upper crust" than the rest of us. The real problem is that "Timmy" lives in a different world, inhabited only by himself. He is a twonk!

10

Alex, Young Laird d' Drumchapel,

Madrid 28/10/2007 21:44:39

Nye Bevan was a British nationalist so Scotleag is fantasising. Bevan also at one point flirted with Oswald Mosley's ideas - you know the nice chap from the Union of Fascists..

What he actually said was: ""It would send a British Foreign Secretary naked into the conference-chamber". And what he meant was that he would be negotiating without allies - who would have distanced themselves from a British position of unilateralism. This was in the context of negotiations and does not prove that Bevan was a multi-lateralist.

Just goes to show you that a lot of British heroes ain't all they are romaticised to be, eh?

Anyway, targetting prescription charges would create an administration and who knows if that would offset the costs of free prescriptions? My guess is that it probably would.

11

TimW1234,

Ottawa, Canada 29/10/2007 05:40:36

I meant to clarify that the $11.99 (CDN) was the PHARMACIST'S FEE for filling the prescription.

Sorry for the mix-up. Some of my medications cost $70/month.

As for Masque calling me persistently a "twonk":

1. What exactly is a "twonk"

2. I think deep, down inside he really, really likes me but doesn't want to admit it.

Thank you, Masque, for your constant adoration of moi.


 

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