The government has announced another increase in the cost of prescriptions for the public health service in England, from £ 8.80 to £ 9 as of 1 April this year. The cost will increase by 20 pence for each prescribed medicine, and the cost of wigs and fabric supports will also be increased in accordance with inflation.

Growth occurs in support of the spending review for 2015, which the government has pledged to support a five-year term, with an investment of 10 billion pounds in real terms, by 2020-2021 years for the financing of the PES at the forefront. However, critics argue that the system is unfair, as prescription drug fees were abolished in Wales in 2007, in Northern Ireland in 2010, and in Scotland in 2011, but about 10 percent of patients in England still have to pay for their medicines.

“The consequences of the relentless rise in prescription drug fees are well known. If you cannot afford drugs, you are becoming increasingly ill, which leads to poor health, expensive and unnecessary hospitalizations,” – said the Chairman of the RPS English Board Sandra Gidley. “Every day pharmacists are asked by patients who can’t afford all the prescription items they could ‘do without’. Patients do not need to make a choice that involves the rationing of their medication. No one should face a financial barrier to getting the necessary medicines.”

However, the cost of prepaid prescription certificates (PPC) for those most in need will remain frozen for another year, with a three – month PPC remaining at £ 29.10 and an annual PPC at £ 104.

Gidley continued: “Recipes are free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It would be much easier to have free prescriptions in England too because then no one would have to worry about payment decisions affecting their health.”