SCRAP Prescription Charges
The weblog of the Scottish Campaign to Remove All Prescription Charges. Keeping you updated on all the news about Colin Fox MSP's bill to the Scottish Parliament.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Parliament Health Committee backs Scrapping Prescription Charges
Abolition of NHS Prescription Charges (Scotland) Bill
Full Health Committee Report at the Scottish Parliament Website.
Scottish Parliament Research Briefing (PDF)
Scottish Parliament News Report
The Health Committee today published its report on the Abolition of NHS Prescription Charges Bill, and has come down narrowly in favour of the Bill.
The Member's Bill which is being promoted by Colin Fox MSP seeks to remove the need to pay a prescription charge from those who currently do.
Committee Convener, Roseanna Cunningham MSP said:
”Our Committee was unanimous in agreeing that the status quo on prescription charges is not an option.
“We believe that the current prescription charging regime is inequitable. It exempts individuals suffering from some chronic illnesses, but not others, and it exempts some people on low incomes, but not others. There are too many inconsistencies and anomalies in the current system.
“The Deputy Minister's suggestion that the Executive may extend the remit of the review of the prescription charging scheme is welcomed, but there are concerns that the Executive appeared to be making very slow progress with this important work.”
BBC News
Prescription campaign gets boost
A campaign by the Scottish Socialists to abolish NHS prescription charges has received a significant boost.
Holyrood's health committee has given its backing to MSP Colin Fox's bill.
Ministers remain totally opposed to the idea but have accepted that they will have to address flaws in the present set-up.
The SSP claims 75,000 Scots go without some or all of the medicine they require because of the cost of prescriptions, currently £6.50 each.
The party believes prescription charges undermine the core principal of the NHS - a service free to all in need.
However, it is known that 92% of Scottish prescriptions are already free.
On Wednesday, the health committee voted narrowly in favour of the abolition of charges.
Scottish National Party MSP Roseanna Cunningham said all members agreed that the status quo on prescription charges was not an option.
They believed there were too many inconsistencies and anomalies, with some people suffering from chronic illnesses and on low incomes eligible for free prescriptions, while others were not.
However, in its report, the committee criticised some of the financial evidence offered by SSP leader Mr Fox, claiming he had overestimated savings and underestimated costs.
As ministers have rejected the idea of abolishing charges it is thought to be unlikely that the bill will reach the statute book.
The Scotsman
"The Welsh Assembly voted in 2003 to phase out charges, and they will finally disappear in Wales next year.
The verdict is expected at the very least to put pressure on ministers to widen the scope of a review of prescription charge exemptions. The committee's convener, SNP MSP Roseanna Cunningham, said: "Our committee was unanimous in agreeing that the status quo on prescription charges is not an option."
The embarrassment for the Executive was compounded by the fact that Labour's Kate Maclean, MSP for Dundee West, and the Liberal Democrats' Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, voted for Mr Fox's bill. Three Labour MSPs, Helen Eadie, Janis Hughes, and Duncan McNeil, and Tory MSP Nanette Milne dissented from the report's recommendation."
