Scrap 'unfair' prescription charges in England, say pharmacies
The National Pharmacy Association has urged the chancellor to scrap prescription charges in England in next week's budget, branding them a 'cruel tax on illness' — its poll of 1,781 adults found 79% call it unfair and one in 10 say they have gone without medicine because of the £9.90 charge.
Pharmacy leaders have called for prescription charges in England to be scrapped, branding them a “cruel tax on illness” and urging the chancellor to act in next week’s budget.
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA), which represents around 6,000 independent pharmacies across the UK, says its poll of 1,781 adults found 79% believe it is “unfair” that English patients pay while those in the rest of the UK do not — charges were abolished in Wales in 2007, Northern Ireland in 2010 and Scotland in 2011. One in 10 said they had gone without medicine because of the £9.90 charge.
“It is a national scandal and deeply unfair that anyone could consider stopping vital medicines because of cost,” said NPA chairman Olivier Picard, adding that the charge “undermines the founding principles of the NHS”.
The NPA estimates 11.6 million patients paid for prescriptions in 2025/26 — raising £732.8 million — while 3.3 million used a prepayment certificate costing £32.05 for three months or £114.50 a year.
Asthma + Lung UK chief executive Sarah Sleet said respiratory patients were “essentially paying for their right to breathe”, because their conditions are not exempt. Crohn’s & Colitis UK chief executive Marianne Radcliffe said people with long-term conditions should not be “forced to choose between their health and their finances”.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Almost nine in 10 NHS prescriptions in England are currently supplied free of charge… Every penny raised from prescription charges goes back into our NHS.”
Sources: Sky News reporting via Channel 103 at https://www.channel103.com/news/national/scrap-unfair-prescription-charges-in-england-say-pharmacies/ ; £732.8 million estimate and charity-coalition detail corroborated by The Sun at https://www.thesun.co.uk/health/40760069/brits-skip-medication-prescriptions-due-to-costs/ and Chemist+Druggist at https://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/news/pharmacy-bodies-urge-govt-to-scrap-prescription-charges-IJCNCZE3RJCZBOEM2DVMZRF2GM/ .
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