§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to add sufferers from inflammatory bowel disease to those conditions which currently benefit from free prescriptions.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThere are already wide-ranging exemption arrangements, underpinned by the separate scheme for exemption on the ground of low income, which ensure that no one need he deterred from obtaining their necessary medication on financial grounds. Nearly 80 per cent. of NHS prescription items are currently dispensed free of charge.