Prescription charge hike a 'dark day' for patients, pharmacists warn

• The prescription charge hike from £9.65 to £9.90 will come into force tomorrow
• READ MORE: Pressure on GPs will increase amid ‘tsunami’ of pharmacy closures 

Pharmacists have warned tomorrow will be a ‘dark day’ for patients as the cost of an NHS prescription rises to almost £10.

They described the hike from £9.65 to £9.90 as a ‘tax on the working poor’ and fear people will be forced to miss out on medication because of the price.

It comes as new figures show chemists are relieving pressure on GPs by successfully treating nine in ten patients who seek care under the new NHS Pharmacy First Scheme.

The Company Chemists’ Association, which represents large high street chemists such as Boots and Superdrug, says its members alone have conducted more than 90,000 consultations in the two months since it launched.

Of these, 88 per cent were eligible to receive NHS-funded care through the service, freeing up appointments with family doctors for people with more serious conditions.

Patients in England will, from April 1, be forced to pay an extra 25p to collect their medication from a pharmacy. Pharmacists described the hike as a ‘tax on the working poor’ and fear people will be forced to miss out on medication because of the price

The 12-month NHS prescription prepayment certificate – which covers all NHS prescriptions for a set price – will also increase from £111.60 to £114.50 tomorrow.

Meanwhile, prescriptions remain free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Tase Oputu, chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in England, said: ‘This is a dark day for patients who will now have to pay nearly £10 for each item on their prescription. ‘

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.

READ MORE: And you thought getting an appointment was tough now! Pressure on GPs will increase amid ‘tsunami’ of pharmacy closures, industry bosses warn

‘You can, it seems, put a price on health.

‘Every day pharmacists are asked by patients who are unable to afford all the items in their prescription which ones they can ‘do without’.

‘No-one should face a financial barrier to getting the medicines they need to keep them well.

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

Nick Kaye, chairman 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.

‘This is a tax on the working poor that deepens the cost-of-living crisis for them.’

Prescriptions are free for certain groups of people including children, over-60s, pregnant women, people who are on certain benefits and people with certain medical conditions.

But the Prescription Charges Coalition, an alliance of more than 50 organisations, has called for an urgent review of the prescription charges exemption list.

The coalition said the exemption list has remained relatively unchanged for the last 50 years and neglects to include many life-altering conditions such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, cystic fibrosis, HIV, and asthma.

Laura Cockram, head of campaigns at Parkinson’s UK and chairwoman of the coalition, said: ‘The NHS prescription charge price increase has struck fear into people living with long-term health conditions, such as Parkinson’s.

‘People are already struggling financially due to the cost-of-living crisis, and increasing the cost of prescriptions will result in more people missing, reducing, or delaying taking their medication, meaning their condition will deteriorate.

‘There is limited financial support that charities can offer to offset Government shortcomings.

Under NHS plans to free up millions of appointments with family doctors, chemists can now dish out contraceptive pills to women. High street pharmacists also have powers to hand out prescriptions for common ailments, meaning patients battling minor illnesses can bypass their GP. Under wider plans, pharmacists are also offering more blood pressure checks to at-risk patients, with a commitment to deliver 2.5 million a year by spring 2025

‘That’s why we’re calling on the UK Government to freeze the charge in 2025 and commit to urgently reviewing the prescription charge exemption list.’

In the first month, over 90 per cent of eligible patients received the care they needed through Pharmacy First, without the need for further referrals, the CCA said.

And a medicine was supplied in 75 per cent of consultations, the trade body added, showing community pharmacies can often be the first port of call for patients with one of the seven common conditions they are allowed to prescribe for.

These are: earache, impetigo, infected insect bites, shingles, sinusitis, sore throat, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women.

Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the CCA, said: ‘The Pharmacy First service continues to show immense promise, providing access to NHS care when and where patients need it.

‘Whilst early signs are promising, we need GPs to be given targeted support to refer more patients into Pharmacy First and further high-quality and targeted engagement campaigns to raise wider public awareness.’

However, the Independent Pharmacies Association, which represents smaller firms, said its members are finding the scheme time consuming and warn it leaves them underpaid.

Some 72 per cent of the 2,133 pharmacies it polled reported that time spent on the service had ‘reduced their capacity to deliver other pharmacy services and activities’.

Almost half (44 per cent) said that consultations were taking 20 minutes on average, with 10 per cent saying they took 30 minutes or more.

Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the IPA, said: ‘It’s clear that pharmacies have got behind this service to support the NHS, but more needs to be done to bring Pharmacy First to the point where it is operating how it was intended.

‘Taking pharmacists away from their other work, when they are already overstretched, is a worry, as is the lack of funding.

‘If the government is not careful, Pharmacy First will simply add to the strain on beleaguered pharmacies and provoke further closures. It requires urgent reassessment.’

An NHS spokesperson said: ‘Pharmacy First will give patients quick, easy access to support for common conditions through their high street pharmacy.

‘The NHS has run an extensive advertising campaign across TV, social media and in public spaces on the support patients can now receive at their pharmacist.

‘You can also find out more information by visiting the NHS website or speaking to your local pharmacist.’

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