§ Mr. Meadowcroftasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will consider adding sufferers of coeliac disease to the list of selected diseases for free prescriptions.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeI have considerable sympathy for people in this group, just as I do for all those suffering from conditions which are not included in the list of medical conditions which confer exemption from prescription charges. However arguments are frequently advanced for the inclusion of a large number of serious conditions. In fairness we cannot take any one in isolation and to include them all would cost the National Health Service a great deal of money. We cannot therefore agree to extend the list.
Exemption from charges is not restricted to sufferers from listed medical conditions. Groups such as the elderly and those on low incomes are also exempt; overall some 70 per cent. of prescription items are dispensed without charge.
Rather than pay charges on each prescription, an individual who is not exempt but who requires six or more prescription items in a four-month period or 16 or more items in a year will find it cheaper to buy a prepayment certificate—season ticket—for the period.