Prescription Charges Coalition: Continuing to pay the price. The impact of prescription charges on people living with long term conditions (22 March 2023)

Summary

A survey of over 4,000 people with long-term conditions on prescription charges has found the charge is a barrier to accessing medicine.

The findings come following the UK government's announcement that the prescription charge will rise on 1 April 2023.

Content

The Prescription Charges Coalition, which brings together around 50 organisations and professional bodies to campaign to scrap prescription charges in England for people with long-term conditions, conducted the survey between February and March.

It found:

• Nearly 1 in 10 people have skipped medication in the past year due to the cost of prescriptions. Of this group:
• Almost a third (30%) of those who have missed medication now have other physical health problems in addition to their original health condition.
• 37% now have other mental health problems in addition to their original health condition.
• And over half (53%) have had to take time off work as a result of worsening health.
• 12% of people who pay for their NHS prescription have cut medication in half to make it last longer.
• Over a third (35%) of survey respondents reported they had the duration of their prescription changed, meaning they’re paying more frequently for their medicines.
• Almost 2 in 5 (38%) people with long-term health conditions only learned about the prepayment certificate more than a year after their diagnosis.

The survey shows that people with long-term health conditions that cannot afford their medication are seeing an increase in GP visits, trips to accident and emergency (A&E), and hospital stays. Some survey respondents reported they had to stay in hospital for up to 6 weeks. Not being able to afford medicine has also led to mental health is sues and increased time off work.