Welsh Conservatives have condemned the Welsh Government’s universal free prescription policy, as it celebrates its fifth anniversary.
It will be five years since all items became dispensable for free on Monday 2nd April 2007.
During that time the number of prescription items dispensed has risen from 62.1 million to 72.2 million (a 16 per cent increase). The latter figure – published this week – is equivalent to 24 items dispensed per head in Wales. This is a considerably higher figure than any other part of the UK.
On average, each item costs the Welsh NHS over eight pounds. A sizeable proportion of these items includes medicines such as athlete’s foot powder and paracetamol. The latter can be bought for as little as 16 pence in supermarkets. In 2010 1,398,253 paracetamol items were dispensed for free on the NHS. That was a rise of almost a quarter on 2006.
The net ingredient cost of all items dispensed in the community in 2011 was 587.8 million pounds. In the next three financial years Labour will make record-breaking cuts to the Welsh health budget of 534 million pounds.
Welsh Conservatives believe the universal free prescriptions policy should come to an end. All those who were previously exempt from paying for prescriptions should remain so, along with all patients diagnosed with cancer and other chronic conditions.
Shadow Minister for Health Darren Millar AM said:
“The last five years have seen universal free prescriptions balloon completely out of control.
“The universal policy is simply not sustainable. Allowing millionaires get their bonjela and paracetamol for free is ludicrous at any given time, not least when Labour is making record-breaking cuts to our health budget.
“Simply, those who can afford to contribute should be able to. The money saved should be used, in part, to create a Cancer Drugs Fund – similar to the one benefitting thousands of patients over the border. In England, there are over 20 life-prolonging cancer drugs available to patients that are not obtainable in Wales.
“It’s time Labour looked at the ever-increasing number of free items being dispensed, used its common sense, and reviewed what is an unaffordable and excessive policy blunder.”
