Ending prescription charges 'could spark rush for free drugs'

Published on Monday 29 June 2009 19:28

AXING prescription charges could lead to more patients asking for free drugs they could easily afford to buy over the counter, a Scottish GP warned yesterday.

The BMA conference heard calls for England to follow Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in abolishing charges for prescriptions.

Scotland is currently in the process of reducing the cost of prescriptions before charges are removed entirely by 2011.

But Hal Maxwell, a GP from Ayrshire, had concerns about the effects free prescriptions would have on workload and general practice. "Already we have a steady stream of patients coming to the surgery for paracetamol and aspirin that they could quite simply buy over the counter. I believe this will only get worse if there is no cost per item prescribed."

He also said there was also a problem with "perceived value" of drugs. "What costs nothing is deemed to be of less value than what costs something," he said.