NEW PRESCRIPTION CHARGES REPORT MAKES LABOUR’S POSITION ‘UNTENABLE’ ABOLITION OF CHARGES SHOWS WHY IT IS BETTER FOR DECISIONS TO BE MADE IN SCOTLAND An SNP MSP has written to Labour’s health spokesperson asking him to clarify Labour’s position on reintroducing prescription charges after new figures showed hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland with long-term conditions are better off thanks to their abolition. Mark McDonald said Neil Findlay must clarify Labour’s position after the latest figures show how vital prescriptions are to hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland. Since 2007/08, the number of items dispensed for conditions such as asthma, Crohn’s disease and diabetes has increased year on year – underlining the benefit of removing this tax on ill health. It is estimated around 40 per cent – two million people – in Scotland have a long-term condition. Mr McDonald, who sits on the Health and Sport Committee, said: “These figures show the positive impact the abolition of prescription charges has had on people who have long-term conditions. "It proves the benefits of making decisions for Scotland in Scotland, instead of being misgoverned and misrepresented by Westminster. "In light of this, will Labour stick to its Cuts Commission and continue to call for prescription charges to be re-introduced? “If so that would some mean people would be faced with a choice between paying for their much-needed medication or on food and bills. “Labour’s position on this is untenable – which is why I have asked Neil Findlay to clarify his party’s position on this. The NHS should be based on need, which is exactly why the SNP abolished prescription charges – like in Wales and now Northern Ireland. Removing the unfair tax on the sick is one of the cornerstones of why this government remains popular. “In England, people have seen price rises every year since 1979. Yet again we are reminded how it is better that decisions affecting the people in Scotland are made in Scotland rather than leaving them to Westminster. “Thanks to the SNP Government, Scotland is - and will remain – a prescription charge-free zone. The Labour leadership in Scotland should wake up to this immediately and reverse their plan to tax the sick through their ill-thought out Cuts Commission.”
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 20:57:06 +0000
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