BMA criticises Tories

After what I said yesterday about the 'producer interest' I think it is worth making it clear that although the view of the British Medical Association on health matters is significant it should not be the deciding factor in the determination of policy.br /br /Thus the fact that a target="_blank" href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/06/18/leading-doctors-criticise-tory-plan-to-scrap-free-prescriptions-in-wales-91466-23907966/"the BMA have openly criticised the Welsh Conservative's decision to press for the re-introduction of prescription charges/a is an important intervention but needs to be judged in a wider context. Nevertheless in this particular instance I think they are right.br /br /The Welsh Liberal Democrats did argue against the introduction of free prescriptions. Our view was that we should be extending the categories of the long-term sick who would be exempt from paying instead. That position has remained our view up until recently and technically we have still not changed our policy.br /br /However, circumstances change. It is more difficult to undo a policy such as this than it is to oppose its introduction, whilst an examination of the actual experience reveals that some of our fears about the policy were unfounded, not least that there would be systematic abuse, a rise in the number of prescribed medicines and problems on the border. In fact there is no evidence that any of that has happened to any significant extent.br /br /As a result we held a consultation at our spring conference on the way forward. All of the responses, together with the outcome of an indicative but non-binding vote favoured maintaining the status quo. It is my intention therefore to come back to Conference with a motion recommending that we now support free prescriptions in Wales. There has been no dissent on this position within the group or anywhere else within the party that I have been aware of.br /br /In moving their motion yesterday, the Conservatives illustrated better than I could the problems with introducing charges. They argued that 93% of prescriptions were free on the old system and that it was only right that those who could afford to do so should pay. However, they also argued that the list of exemptions should be extended.br /br /The upshot of all this would be that the number of people who would actually be paying would be very small but the costs of administering an exemption system and means-testing would be quite significant, abuse would be a major problem and the sort of revenue the Tories anticipate raking in from the change completely unrealistic and almost cancelled out by the extra costs. It would also be true that even on the Tory system a millionaire with a long term illness would still get his or her prescription free of charge.br /br /They were unclear on the price that would be imposed on a prescription or the amount of money it would raise. I think we can dismiss their figure of £30 million as completely unrealistic. If they are going to cost their manifesto on the back of an envelope as well then we will have a very interesting Assembly election.br /br /And then there is the impact on health of reintroducing a charge. The argument that people are put off purchasing all of the medicines prescribed by a doctor because of the cost is actually quite a strong one, particularly when their income puts them just above the threshold for a free prescription. The Welsh Liberal Democrats are in the process of moving-on on this issue, I think it would benefit the Welsh Conservatives if they did the same.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8266684-4328693184826346515?l=peterblack.blogspot.com'//div