27th
November 2007
McNeil Seeks Reassurance over Minor
Ailments Scheme
Over half a million Scots* who benefit
from the NHS minor ailments scheme must not lose their benefit if planned
reforms of prescription charges go ahead, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde,
Duncan McNeil, has argued in the Scottish Parliament.
Speaking
during Question Time, he told Health Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, that the minor
ailments scheme, “means that people on low incomes, the elderly and people who
are in poor health are not put off seeking the expert advice of community
pharmacists by the cost of over-the-counter medicines.
Not only that, it frees up hard-pressed GPs to concentrate on more
serious cases.”
He
continued:
“Will
the minister guarantee that all recipients of free prescriptions will continue
to benefit from the minor ailments scheme?”
However,
in her reply, Ms Sturgeon would also go so far as to state:
“When
the Government fulfils its commitment to abolish prescription charges, we will
consider the implications that that has for the minor ailment service.”
Speaking
later, Mr McNeil said he was disappointed that the Minister could not reassure
his constituents and had apparently not thought through the implications of her
policy:
“I
am concerned that the Minister would not guarantee that everyone who currently
benefits from the minor ailments scheme will continue to do so.
These are some of the poorest and most vulnerable NHS patients, and it
would be grossly unfair if they were to lose out when the system is changed to
give free prescriptions to the wealthiest.”
ENDS
*541,385
at 31st August this year.
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