With the clock ticking down on the government’s decision, we are asking you to email your MP to oppose the proposal and call on the government to set out a strategy to scrap the charge.
Crohn’s & Colitis UK is a member of the Prescription Charges Coalition (PCC). In a survey the PCC conducted in 2017, a third of respondents who paid for each prescription stated they couldn’t afford to pay for their medicine and had not collected prescriptions as a result. For some, this had led to the need for further treatment and time in hospital, which may otherwise have been avoided. Our research, together with Parkinson’s UK, found that prescriptions charges actually cost the NHS millions as a result.
Prescription charges have recently been the focus of media and political attention, having featured on the BBC and in the national media. The affordability of prescription charges for people with cystic fibrosis and other long-term conditions was recently debated in the House of Commons. While Minister Edward Agar MP acknowledged that the exemption list for long-term conditions has only been reviewed once since 1968, to add cancer, he said that the government had no plans to review it.
We hope that the government will note the scale of opposition to their plan and revisit this decision.
To add your voice to this call, email your MP today via this simple form on the Prescription Charges Coalition website.
Please let us know how you get on and about any responses you receive by emailing policy@crohnsandcolitis.org.uk
About prescription charges in England
Currently, people in England pay a standard £9.35 for every item on an NHS prescription or can purchase an annual or three-month NHS Prescription Prepayment Certificate. Prescriptions are free in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
In England, those who are aged over 60 or under 16, pregnant women and those with specific conditions such as cancer, diabetes and epilepsy are exempt. However not all long-term conditions are included which has resulted in people who live with Crohn's and Colitis paying for medications that keep them well.
Find out more about who is entitled to free prescriptions.
More information on the government consultation can be read here.
Learn more about our work to increase access to medicines and health technologies here
