Increased access to medicine and treatments

At the moment, most people with IBD in England who work, have to pay for their medicines. This is because the exempt list of conditions which qualifies for free prescriptions is limited, unfair and out of date. Prescriptions are currently free of charge in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

We know that the extra cost of paying for prescriptions can be a barrier to people taking their medication as prescribed, which can have serious consequences for people’s health. Nearly a third of those who said they pay for their prescriptions (30%), reported skipping or reducing medication doses, with 43% of these citing cost concerns as key factor. As part of the Prescription Charges Coalition, we’re campaigning for all people with long-term conditions to receive free prescriptions in England. 

Research published in May 2018 by the York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC) found that scrapping prescription charges for people with two long-term conditions - Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis) and Parkinson’s - would save the NHS over £20 million a year.