Prescription costs slashed in Scotland

From the start of this month, patients in Scotland will benefit from a reduction to the cost of prescriptions and prescription pre-payment certificates (PPCs).

The Scottish government has announced a 25 per cent reduction in prescription costs from 6.85 pounds to five pounds , while the cost of PPCs has been reduced by 51 per cent.

A full year’s PPC which used to cost 98.70 pounds will now be 48 pounds, while that for a four-month period has fallen from 35.85 pounds to 17 pounds.

The government notes that prescription charges in England have been increased to 7.10 pounds, while those in Northern Ireland have been frozen.

Nicola Sturgeon, cabinet secretary for health and wellbeing, said: “The reduced charges will mean that everyone who pays for prescriptions will pay less from today, making a significant difference to literally hundreds of thousands of Scots.”

She added that the government planned to reduce prescription charges again in 2009 and 2010, before abolishing them completely in 2011.

Earlier this month, the government in England reported that the increase in prescription charges was below the rate of inflation, as it has been for the past decade, adding that 88 per cent of prescription items are free as a result of exemption arrangements.