NHS patients face ‘creeping charges’
The National Consumer Council (NCC) is warning that patients are facing ‘creeping charges’ in the NHS and has called for a core of free services.
The NCC warns that the elderly and people with long-term health problems are particularly badly hit by what it sees as a slow increase in charges for services.
The NCC highlights that charges for prescriptions, dental care and glasses have been increased whilst new charges are being introduced.
Deirdre Hutton, chairman of the NCC, said: “The system particularly punishes the poor. It deters them from taking up their prescriptions, having eye tests and going to the dentist. Creeping charges are probably cock up rather than conspiracy. Nevertheless, they spawn unfairness and inconsistencies that compound existing health inequalities.’
Ms Hutton accepted that charging for non-essential services such as TV’s in rooms was acceptable, but charging for essential care was not and undermined the ethos of the NHS of providing free care at the point of access.
The NCC estimates that 750,000 people fail to get all or part of their prescribed drugs because of the cost. In England, 80% of adults have to pay £6.30 for each item on the prescription. Seventy per cent of people have to pay 80% of their dental charges up to the cost of £366. The NCC points out that the list of exceptions from charges has not been updated since 1968.
The NCC wants to see a Core Services Commission be set up to evaluate services that should be considered essential and provide the money for them. The NCC also wants to see an end to the current system of dentistry charges and the proper resourcing of optometrists to ensure full eye examinations.
