19-6-02

Barrett backs moves to end prescription charges for chronically ill

John Barrett MP, Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, today sponsored a Private Member's Bill, which would end prescription charges for those with chronic medical conditions.

The Bill, which is being introduced by Liberal Democrat MP, Paul Marsden, seeks to end the current system where many patients with long term illnesses do not receive the treatment they need because of the total costs of the medicines prescribed.

In a statement, John Barrett MP said:

"Prescription charges for chronic illnesses are unfair and result in many patients failing to receive the treatment they need, purely because of the costs involved. As a result, patients often have to choose between medicines prescribed, unable to afford all of the treatment which the Doctor has ordered.

"The Labour party, whilst in opposition, promised to provide free medication for such long-term illnesses as cystic fibrosis. Yet in Government, despite overwhelming support for such a move in the country and among their own MPs, Labour reneged on this promise. The chronically ill, like so many others have been let down by this Labour Government.

"This Private Member's Bill I am sponsoring aims to deliver justice for the thousands of people who are forced to buy their medicines on prescription and stop patients having to choose which medicines to buy. It seems ridiculous for a modern and fair society to put barriers between chronic sufferers and the medicine that will make them better. This Bill would bring down these barriers."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

* The Private Member's Bill which John Barrett has co-sponsored is being proposed by Liberal Democrat MP, Paul Marsden and would scrap prescription charges for those with chronic medical conditions.

* The Bill is supported by National Asthma Campaign The Parkinson's Disease Society The National Association of Citizen's Advice Bureaux The Cystic Fibrosis Trust The Crohn's Disease Society

* Why the current system is wrong The list of conditions which lead to exemption from all prescription charges was formulated in the 1968 and according to the Wanless Report, is unfair and illogical, with patients with certain chronic conditions being exempt whilst others who may be more deserving having to pay for the same drugs. Thus, for example a diabetic with chronic bronchitis is exempt from all charges, whilst a person with chronic bronchitis and heart failure must pay.

The requirements laid down by the British Medical Association in 1968 and accepted by the Government as criteria for exemption were that exempt conditions should be 'readily identifiable conditions, which in virtually all cases call automatically for prolonged continuous medication'. This clearly applies to many conditions that do not feature on the exempt list, such as asthma, cystic fibrosis and Parkinson's Disease.

One notable case is that of cystic fibrosis, which was not included in the original list of exemptions because sufferers were not expected to live into adulthood - and children are exempt. As many CF sufferers now do survive into adulthood, it seems that the Government is actually penalising people for living longer.

Although the very poor are exempt from charges, because of the very high marginal cost, for those who are just above the threshold these charges are highly regressive, many more times so for those with chronic illnesses. The situation becomes yet more ridiculous for the chronically sick who are on incapacity benefit, which is paid out at rates only slightly higher than income support. Whilst those on income support are exempt, a person whose incapacity benefit is 7p more than the applicable level of income support is left to pay the full costs of their medication.

It is argued that those with chronic conditions can limit the cost by buying season tickets. However, an initial outlay of £89 is too great for many on low incomes. Over the years, the cost these season tickets can run into many thousands of pounds. In addition, the NACAB found that 27% of those who could have benefited from season tickets did not even know of their existence. Indeed, the very existence of the 'season ticket' scheme proves the point that the charges are extremely unfair for those people with chronic medical conditions.

The glaring anomalies in the current system have meant that, every year around 750,000 prescribed items are never dispensed because people can't afford them. Pharmacists and GPs describe frequent cases where they have been asked which is the most important item on a prescription, since the patient can only afford one.

Some prescription medications - for example many inhalers for chronic asthmatics - cost less to the Government than the prescription charge. Can it really be fair that the Government makes a profit on the chronically sick?