Current status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 23 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the article in The Times on 26 August 2024, whether it is considering introducing prescription charges for medicines on the NHS to balance its budget deficit.
There is no plan to re-introduce prescription charges in Scotland. Prescription charges were abolished in April 2011 because Scottish Ministers believed that they were a tax on ill health and a barrier to good health for many people. This was particularly so for those with long-term conditions and those on a low income who in the past faced choices about which medicines they could afford. The introduction of free prescriptions has been fully funded by the Scottish Government, at no cost to NHS budgets.