Commenting on a rise in the number of GP prescriptions in Wales (to 70.1 million items), and an increase in the net ingredient cost (equivalent to £188.50 per person registered), Shadow Minister for Health Darren Millar AM, said:
“These figures confirm that – at a time when Labour is cutting the health budget in Wales – the universal free prescriptions policy simply cannot be sustained.
“As millions are spent on pills and ointments that can be bought for pennies in supermarkets, cancer patients are being denied access to over 20 drugs that are routinely available in England.
“Since 1999, the number of items dispensed per head has increased by 61 per cent and the cost of those items has risen by more than 206 million pounds. That fuels serious concern over the Welsh Labour government’s use of precious NHS resources.
“Those who can afford to contribute towards their prescriptions should be able to – and 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.
“It’s time Labour used its common sense and reviewed what is an unaffordable and excessive universal policy blunder.”
