Urgent call to scrap prescription charges as patients are ‘forced to cut medication in half’
The Prescription Charges Coalition has written to Jeremy Hunt MP, the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, asking for an investigation into the prescription charges exemption list in England which was drawn up in 1968. Some serious conditions such as asthma, Multiple Sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, motor neurone disease, stroke and Parkinson's are still not included despite the need for medication to stay well and, in many cases, alive. England is the only UK country where people have to pay for their medicines.
The Coalition say that while they welcome the Health Secretary’s recent announcement to freeze the charge, they fear it will still have a detrimental impact on patients’ health, as well as the NHS.
Prescription charges can be a massive financial burden for people who need regular medication to manage one or more long-term conditions. The NHS low income scheme as well as exemptions for those on benefits, help some people but others with long-term conditions bear the brunt of the costs.
The Coalition say that medication is still unaffordable for many, with a single item costing £9.35, a 3 month prepayment certificate costing £30.25 and a 12 month certificate costing £108.10.
But the Coalition argue that if patients skip their medication leading to hospital treatment, it costs the NHS significantly more.
Zoe Oakley, a 42-year-old bus driver from Poole in Dorset has Polycystic Kidney Disease and had a transplant four years ago. She has resorted to cutting tablets in half or stopping specific medications to save money.
I pay a monthly price but I have even got behind with that. Even though it's £10 a month it's expensive and when I went to pay, I couldn't afford it.
Zoe Oakley
It's a struggle. It's pre-pay so if I run out at a difficult time I have to assess it. I've cut tablets in half to make them last longer. I've had to do that with blood pressure tablets.
Doing this doesn't make me feel well. If I cut a blood pressure tablet in half I get neck pain and headaches and my heart races. My transplant is in harm's way but you're stuck.
It's better to have some than none. It's like food, you're cutting back on everything.
When I couldn't pay I decided not to take one of the tablets, one that stops the side-effects of the other tablets I take, and it caused incredibly bad heartburn. It was like knives going into my chest. But if I don't take the other tablets I lose a kidney and die.
The single mum, who has two boys aged 14 and ten, said she's struggling with money. In 2017 Zoe was hospitalised twice as she had to wait until payday to collect her prescription. She adds: "I work but wages aren’t rising in line with the cost of living. I've heard others are doing the same. There is so much inequality and it's not right people with Parkinson's, transplant recipients and those with heart problems have to pay for them whilst people with diabetes don't. The system needs a desperate overhaul."
This comes as new research from Cystic Fibrosis Trust, which surveyed more than 1,000 people with the life-long genetic condition, found a third missed vital hospital appointments due to costs.
The report also found that rising living costs – as well as the additional costs of having cystic fibrosis - are causing 30 per cent to choose between eating and heating, with people running out of food before they have money to buy more.
Melissa from Wales has a 9-year-old daughter with cystic fibrosis and is one of those people who has been impacted by the financial costs of hospital appointments.
This month my daughter needed her first set of intravenous antibiotics at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool. We travelled up from Wales, paid the tolls each way into Liverpool and stayed in a hotel for 2 nights, as only me or my husband can stay at the hospital and take it in turns to see our daughter.
Melissa
It’s an unexpected cost - around £200 overall - and whilst we were able to make the appointment, it was something that we hadn’t budgeted for.
The Coalition's own research from 2017 showed that a third of respondents in England with long-term conditions had not collected a prescription item due to finances. Nearly a third admitted that they skipped medication and as a direct result, nearly three in five (59%) became more ill and 34% needed to visit their GP or hospital.
Alarmingly, a household with Parkinson’s in England is on average £17,094 worse off each year.
This includes money spent on extra social care costs such as help with cleaning and alterations to the home, plus medication and a loss of income.
We're calling for change as the cost of living is not just forcing families to cut back on the essentials, such as heating and food, but also medication.
Laura Cockram, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Parkinson’s UK and Chair of the Prescription Charge Coalition
Although the prescription charge has been frozen for this year, since 2010 charges have risen 26%.
Our research has shown that vulnerable people will skip medication due to costs. This in turn can often lead to hospital treatment, costing the NHS significantly more.
It’s appalling that people with cystic fibrosis still have to pay for their daily medicines, because of an outdated list made years ago when they weren’t expected to live into adulthood. People with cystic fibrosis need to take up to 40 tablets a day just to stay healthy. Having the condition already brings added costs and prescription charges are yet another layer of financial burden.
Clare Corbett, Director of External Affairs at Cystic Fibrosis Trust
We want the Government to review the outdated exemption list so that everyone with CF has free access to the medicines they need to live longer, healthier lives.
The coalition of 52 charities also includes the Royal College of GPs, Disability Rights UK, Kidney Care UK and Crohn's and Colitis UK.
About CF
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic condition which causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive system. It affects more than 10,800 people in the UK. One in 25 of us carries the faulty gene that causes it, usually without knowing.
Since 1964, we've supported people with cystic fibrosis to live longer, healthier lives - and we won’t stop until everyone can live without limits imposed by CF.