§ 14. Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the rate of increase in prescription charges since 1978.
§ Mr. MaloneIncreases in national health service prescription charges have never been linked to the rate of inflation; nor is the level of the charge itself related to the cost of an individual prescription item or to the cost to the NHS of dispensing it. The charge is a reasonable sum paid by those who can afford to do so. Our extensive arrangements for exemption and for charge remission under the NHS low–income scheme are among the most generous in Europe. They ensure that only those able to afford to pay are asked to do so.