Responding to a joint survey by the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), more than a third of pharmacists (35%) said they have seen an increase in patients declining prescriptions in the last 12 months.
- 90% of respondents have seen cases where patients decline all the medicines on a prescription due to cost.
- 97% of respondents have seen cases where patients decline some of the medicines on a prescription due to cost. More than a quarter (26%) said they saw this often.
- Many types of medicines that are being declined, with a range of potential consequences for the individual’s health, include those for blood pressure, inhalers, antibiotics, pain relief, statins, and for mental health.
The warning adds to the voices of leading patient groups calling for reform to prescription charges in England.
This new evidence comes ahead of a debate in Parliament on Monday (5 February), where MPs will consider a petition on prescription charges for people with long-term health conditions.
Click on image to see the survey results
Laura Cockram, Head of Campaigns at Parkinson’s UK and Chair of the Prescription Charges Coalition (PPC), commented, “Pharmacists working within our communities play a vital role in ensuring people with long-term health conditions stay well and are able to access their medicines. This is why the results of this latest survey are extremely concerning, with over a third of respondents seeing an increase in their patients being unable to collect medicines due to cost in the last 12 months.
It’s crucial the UK government takes urgent action to help people with long-term conditions afford their vital medicines.”
Director of Policy at the PDA, Alison Jones said, “Pharmaceutical care has a positive impact on many patients’ health, allowing them to manage or recover from poor health, but only if they access their medicine in the doses and frequency prescribed. Patients in England should have the same access to medicines as those in the other UK nations, where the affordability of prescriptions for the patient is not a factor.
Our members do all they can to advise patients on NHS England schemes to reduce prescription costs, such as pre-payment, but ultimately in a cost-of-living crisis some patients cannot afford any price. There is a cost to the NHS of patients needing more complex care if their condition subsequently deteriorates and they need to be admitted to hospital, and an impact on the nation’s GDP when working people are unable to work effectively due to otherwise preventable ill health.
Pharmacists should not be used as tax collectors.”
Chair of the RPS in England Tase Oputu added, “These survey results show a worrying rise in people not taking up the medicines they have been prescribed and amid an ongoing cost of living crisis, prescription charges risk widening health inequalities in England.
Nobody should face a financial barrier to accessing the medicines they need to stay well. It is high time this stealth tax was abolished.”
See the results of the survey here.
Learn more
- Pharmacists in England are invited to complete the Prescription Charges survey 2024
- Royal Pharmaceutical Society
- Prescription Charges Coalition
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