Published 1 July 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2650
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2650

News

BMA meeting: BMA representatives vote to end prescription charges in England

Deborah Cohen

1 BMJ

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The BMA has voted overwhelmingly to abolish prescription charges in England. A motion passed at the BMA’s annual conference in Liverpool urged the government to abolish prescription charges in England, as has happened in Wales and is happening in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Speaking for the motion, Shaukat Ali, a consultant from Darlington, said that prescription charges "defeat the fundamental principle of health care under the NHS: free at the point of delivery."

He pointed out that when Clement Attlee introduced prescription charges in 1951, when the charge was for each prescription rather than for each item, the "father of the NHS," Aneurin Bevan, and the future prime minister, Harold Wilson, resigned from the government.

"Prescription charges have continued to rise every year as per inflation to its current level of £7.20 [{euro}8.50; $11.90]," Dr Ali said.

He also said that 88% of prescription items are dispensed free of . . . [Full text of this article]


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Rapid Responses:

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No prescription charges for cancer patients
Kenneth Campbell
bmj.com, 3 Jul 2009 [Full text]
Paying nothing for nothing in England
Stephen P. Gash, et al.
bmj.com, 17 Jul 2009 [Full text]
Free prescriptions for cancer patients in England
Patrick J Harris
bmj.com, 17 Jul 2009 [Full text]
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