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Letters to the Editor
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Prescription charges
Removing charges will lead to more waste
From Mr A. R. Korsner, MRPharmS
There cannot be a pharmacist who is not frustrated by wasted medicines.
A dozen inhalers, 15 pairs of stockings, 30 insulin pens and 200 colostomy
bags are a few that come to mind as I examine my yellow sacks.
To throw away (conservatively) hundreds of pounds of returned medicines and
then be told the NHS has insufficient funds for a decent pay award or extended
roles, stretches the mind.
There is a maxim that one does not appreciate what one gets for free. Many
hard-working people on low pay have to go without medicines, even for illnesses
such as cancer, because of the high cost, while some well-heeled people get
free medicines because of exemptions. This is a gross abuse of the ethos of
the NHS.
When patients pay for medicines they often query the appropriateness or necessity
of an item. Patients with private prescriptions for 100 tablets may opt to
take half the quantity and come back if they need more.
I have never, in 30-plus years, had a patient ask for half the quantity on
an NHS prescription. Prescriptions should all be paid for, but at a more equitable
level for all. A modest £1 or £2 charge would generate less waste
and the savings could fund a better service.
Unlike Tessa Jenns (PJ, 1 March 2008, p243), I think Scotland and
Wales have made a mistake in removing charges and will pay the penalty in higher
drug bills
and waste disposal costs. If every item attracts the same fee, paperwork is
saved; there is an automatic deduction and ETP services would not be compromised.
I have been advocating this for years and cannot understand why it has not
been considered. I can only conclude that political expediency has outweighed
patient care.
Adrian Korsner
London
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal