§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give consideration to extending the category of medical exemptions for prescription charges to include those people who require long-term medication following a heart transplant.
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§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe limited list of medical conditions which confer exemption from prescription charges was drawn up after consultation with the British Medical Association in 1968.
There are already wide-ranging exemption arrangements, underpinned by the separate scheme for exemption on the grounds of low income, which ensure that no one need be deterred from obtaining their necessary medication on financial grounds. Nearly 80 per cent. of prescription items are currently dispensed free of charge.