Consultation on Proposal to abolish NHS Prescription Charges

7. Consultation

Question 1: There is a proposal to abolish all prescription charges. What do you think of this idea?


Question 2: Do you think that the current system of prescription charges is fair to all patients (please state why you think so)?


Question 3: Are there alternatives to charging which you consider fairer?


Question 4: The current prescription charge is £6.30 per item. Do you think that this is amount is about right, too little or too much? (Please state why you think so).


Question 6: Pre-Payment Certificates can be obtained to assist people who need multiple drugs to treat their condition. Anyone who expects that they will have to pay for more than 5 prescription items in 4 months, or 14 items in 12 months, is able to obtain the items more cheaply through Pre-Payment Certificates. A 4-month PPC costs £32.90 whilst a 12-month PPC is £90.40.

  1. Do you believe that Pre-Payment Certificates deal with the problem that people requiring multiple medications face? If so why?
  2. Has the cost of Pre-Payment Certificates ever prevented you (or a member of a group you work with) from buying one, even though overall you would have saved money? YES/NO

Question 7: What more could be done to alert the public to the existence of Pre-Payment Certificates?


Question 8:

  1. Do you (or members of the group of people you work with) have to pay for prescription charges? YES/NO
  2. If yes please state in what ways (if any) having to pay for prescriptions affects you (them)?
  3. Please also state which conditions you (or the group of people you work with) suffer from:

Question 9: Some people find it difficult to afford the prescription charge particularly where there are multiple items required. Have you (or the people that you work with), ever gone without one or more medicines that you (they) were prescribed because you (they) could not afford the total cost?


YES/NO


What conditions were you (they) being treated for (please list)?


How regularly does this occur? Rarely/Sometimes/Regularly


Question 10: Have you (or anyone you know) ever needed emergency or hospital treatment because you (they) could not afford to take all your (their) medicines?


YES/NO


If hospitalised how long was your (their) stay?


Question 11: Do you feel that you (or members of the group of people you work with) have ever suffered hardship through being required to pay prescription charges?


YES/NO


Question 12: People suffering from certain chronic medical conditions (such as diabetes) are exempt from paying charges whilst people suffering from other chronic conditions such as asthma, cancer and leukaemia are not. What other chronic conditions do you believe should be added to the list of exempt conditions?

  1. All chronic conditions
  2. All life-long conditions for which there is no known cure?
  3. Some conditions (please list)
  4. No more chronic conditions should be added to the list.

Question 13: In Wales young people aged between 16 and 25 years old were given exemption from charges. What do you think of this idea? Do you think a similar measure should be adopted in Scotland?


Question 14: Are there any other grounds, other than the current ones, on which you think people should be exempted from paying prescription charges? Please state which and why?


Question 15: Other than abolition are there any other changes you would like to see in the current system of prescription charges?

References:

  1. “The cost of prescription medicines to patients” - Noyce PR, Huttin C, Atella V, Brenner G, Haaijer-Ruskamp FM, Hedvall M, Mechtler R. Health Policy. 2000 Jun;52 (2):129-45
  2. Results of poll published in magazine “Doctor” in April 2001. Also reported on bbc news - http:news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1260874.stm
  3. “Cost containment and healthcare records in the British NHS” - by G. Fattore “In Healthcare and cost containment in the European Union” edited by E. Mossialos and J. Le Grand. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999.
  4. “Non-dispensing of NHS prescriptions in community pharmacies” – Schafheutle EI, Hassel K, Seston EM, Noyce PR, International Journal of Pharmaceutical Practice 2002; 10:11-5
  5. “Adverse events associated with prescription drug cost-sharing among poor and elderly patients” – Tamblyn R, Laprise R, Hanley JA, Abrahamowicz M, Scott S, Mayo N et al, JAMA 2001; 285:421-9