UK government to increase prescription charges in England

Hi everyone,

As some of you will already know, on Tuesday 11 March, the government announced that prescription charges in England will rise by 20p from 01 April, taking them from £7.85 to £8.05. They have also confirmed that prescription charges are going to go up again next year. We think it's unacceptable that people with asthma will be forced to pay even more for the prescriptions they need to stay well.

As a member of the Prescription Charges Coalition (an alliance of over 30 organisations concerned with the impact of prescription charges on people with long-term conditions), Asthma UK has joined with our partner organisations to launch a petition calling on the Government to end these charges in England for everyone with a long-term condition. We believe it is wrong that the cost of prescriptions means that people are putting their health at risk. With your help we can show politicians that there is widespread support for ending prescription charges for people with all long-term conditions in the future.

Sign the Prescription Charges Coalition petition to end the unfair system of prescription charges for millions in England with long-term conditions

We don't normally post requests like this in the forum, but as this is such a serious issue that affects so many people (and not just people with asthma) that we wanted to share it with you. We value our forum users as engaged members of the wider asthma community, and wanted to ask if you could share it with your friends and family too.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to get in contact - either here, on our Facebook page or at our Twitter account.

Hugh @ Asthma UK.

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Prepayment certificates aren't increasing. Given that most folk with asthma have at least two prescriptions a month (reliever and steroid inhaler) they can get this for £10 a month on a prepayment certificate, saving £6. I personally don't have an issue with paying a £10 a month contribution to my prescriptions.