Jeremy Corbyn launches ‘Care for the NHS’ campaign to highlight government failures on healthcare

Leader of the Labour party demands extra money from Phillip Hammond for the health service

Jeremy Corbyn has kickstarted a campaign to shift public focus towards the NHS with activists taking part in more than 500 events across the country.
The “Care for the NHS” campaign aims to highlight the failures of the Government on the health service following its apparent absence from the Autumn Statement.
The campaign is set to be a priority over the winter period for Labour, as Mr Corbyn demanded extra money from Phillip Hammond for the NHS.

Speaking at the launch of the campaign, Mr Corbyn said: “The Conservatives are failing our health service, which has been pushed into financial crisis and soaring deficits.
“Patients are facing longer waits, with hospitals overcrowded, understaffed and threatened with closure. Labour will stand up for the NHS. We will always make sure the NHS has the funding it needs and will join up services from home to hospital with a properly integrated health and social care service. 
“Labour created the NHS to care for us all, now it is time to care for the NHS,” he added.

The launch has received very little media coverage, with only the Guardian, the Huffington Post and the Morning Star seemingly covering the event.
When contacted by The Independent, Labour would not comment on whether it felt the event had received the level of coverage it had hoped for.
Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said that the Autumn Statement made it clear the NHS was “at the back of the queue” for the Government. 
“It is jaw-dropping that when the NHS is facing the biggest financial squeeze in its history - when waiting lists are at four million, when A&Es are in crisis – that the Autumn Statement contained not a single penny piece of extra investment for social care and the NHS. 
“Instead the Conservatives have ignored the chorus of voices pleading for them to address the mess they have created in social care with cuts to budgets of £4.5 billion. The crisis in social care is such that thousands more older and disabled people face being left without access to services,” Mr Ashworth said.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-launches-care-for-the-nhs-campaign-highlight-government-failure-healthcare-a7443856.html



On Saturday all over the country, in cities, towns and villages, Labour were out in force bringing to people's attention what is happening to their NHS.   The numpty that has just been elected leader of UKIP is on video saying that the NHS is a monolithic structure from a bygone era and should be privatised.   There is your choice, Labour fighting for it, UKIP and the Tories privatising it.

Perhaps they should make more people pay for prescriptions so there's more money coming in to pay for the NHS.

Nope, perhaps we should make more corporations and billionaires pay their taxes so there is more money for the NHS and perhaps we should stop giving tax breaks to those who already have enough.

And perhaps we should have a Government that doesn't want to run it down so they can hand it over to their mates pretending its not working.

sassy wrote:Nope, perhaps we should make more corporations and billionaires pay their taxes so there is more money for the NHS and perhaps we should stop giving tax breaks to those who already have enough.

And perhaps we should have a Government that doesn't want to run it down so they can hand it over to their mates pretending its not working.

I doubt it would make any difference as the Government would probably find something more "important" to spend the money on. I do think though that getting more money for prescriptions would increase the amount available for the NHS because the Government couldn't really justify using it for anything else, unless they put it into medical research of course.

Then you are wrong, it's been costed by financial experts and if they paid they taxes, not only would it pay for everything required by the NHS, it would also pay for education.

sassy wrote:Then you are wrong, it's been costed by financial experts and if they paid they taxes, not only would it pay for everything required by the NHS, it would also pay for education.

Try actually discussing and debating rather than just tell people they're "wrong".

The point is that there's no evidence the Government would spend any money they got from such taxes on the NHS. That's what I just said - something you ignored. I didn't say it wouldn't bring in enough money.

If your facts are wrong, they are wrong.   We are not discussing your opinion, but your fact.

sassy wrote:If your facts are wrong, they are wrong.   We are not discussing your opinion, but your fact.

I didn't give any facts, I gave an opinion. You can disagree if you want, but saying I'm "wrong" is just your opinion, which I'm happy to discuss.

Nope, you said you doubted it would make a difference.  Facts say it would make a huge difference.

Good for Corbyn, another campaign. Shame he misses his chance week on week to put the pressure on the PM and hold her to account concerning the NHS and many other things.

Shame you have missed the fact he is doing just that and holding her to account at PMQs every time.   Why, even the media are reporting that, so it has to be excellent for them to even notice.

sassy wrote:Nope, you said you doubted it would make a difference.  Facts say it would make a huge difference.

So I didn't give a fact then did I? You claimed my facts were wrong, but I didn't give any facts. I do doubt it would make a difference. The Government could save money elsewhere and spend it on the NHS, but they don't, so why do you think they would spend such taxes on the NHS?

Do you have anything against the idea of making more people pay for prescription?

You gave your opinion on a fact, an incorrect fact.  That's a fact, get over it.

sassy wrote:You gave your opinion on a fact, and incorrect fact.  That's a fact, get over it.

No, you said my facts were wrong, and I didn't give any facts. I also didn't say that such taxes wouldn't raise enough, so your interpretation of my non-fact was wrong.

Nope.  You can twizel all you want, what you said was wrong.

Raggamuffin wrote:Perhaps they should make more people pay for prescriptions so there's more money coming in to pay for the NHS.

If this were the case, what groups of people who are entitled to free prescriptions would you target?

sassy wrote:Nope.  You can twizel all you want, what you said was wrong.

No, it wasn't. You were wrong because you thought I had given a fact, and then you misunderstood my opinion, which makes you wrong twice.

Spindleshanks wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:Perhaps they should make more people pay for prescriptions so there's more money coming in to pay for the NHS.

If this were the case, what groups of people who are entitled to free prescriptions would you target?

Those over 60? Many people over 60 still work - especially now the pension age is rising. Many people who are retired get good incomes if they have a private pension.

Pregnant women who have an exemption certificate? Not sure why they get those tbh.

There are some specified medical conditions where people are exempt as well.

If someone needs a lot of prescriptions, they can get a prepayment card, so they're not paying huge amounts every month. I have one myself.

Perhaps parents could pay for those who are under 16 but pay less?

Perhaps more should be done to combat stress-related illness, which costs the NHS quite a lot. Apparently, one in five visits to a GP are for psychological problems, quite often related to work-related stress. Stress can lead to self-medication, which can lead to further illness, and it can possibly even lead directly to some diseases, although I'm not sure that's been proved.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/Pages/workplace-stress.aspx

Raggamuffin wrote:

Spindleshanks wrote:

If this were the case, what groups of people who are entitled to free prescriptions would you target?

Those over 60? Many people over 60 still work - especially now the pension age is rising. Many people who are retired get good incomes if they have a private pension.

Pregnant women who have an exemption certificate? Not sure why they get those tbh.

There are some specified medical conditions where people are exempt as well.

If someone needs a lot of prescriptions, they can get a prepayment card, so they're not paying huge amounts every month. I have one myself.

Perhaps parents could pay for those who are under 16 but pay less?

I've just been trying to find some information relating to the numbers of people in each group, over 60's, under school leaving age etc who are entitled to free prescriptions. The only one i've found so far is that there are over 15 million people in the UK who are aged over 60. I also read something which said there are more people over 60 than there are under 18.

I do actually think that while people are still working who are under the retirement age then they should still have to pay for prescriptions as well as not getting free bus passes, heating allowances and whatever else they are entitled to but that is my opinion.

With pregnant women it's about maintaining her health and that of her baby, it's only a temporary thing and 12 months after the birth they have to start paying again.

I'm not sure it sits well with me making children's prescriptions be paid for tbh.

Spindleshanks wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

Those over 60? Many people over 60 still work - especially now the pension age is rising. Many people who are retired get good incomes if they have a private pension.

Pregnant women who have an exemption certificate? Not sure why they get those tbh.

There are some specified medical conditions where people are exempt as well.

If someone needs a lot of prescriptions, they can get a prepayment card, so they're not paying huge amounts every month. I have one myself.

Perhaps parents could pay for those who are under 16 but pay less?

I've just been trying to find some information relating to the numbers of people in each group, over 60's, under school leaving age etc who are entitled to free prescriptions.  The only one i've found so far is that there are over 15 million people in the UK who are aged over 60.  I also read something which said there are more people over 60 than there are under 18.

I do actually think that while people are still working who are under the retirement age then they should still have to pay for prescriptions as well as not getting free bus passes, heating allowances and whatever else they are entitled to but that is my opinion.

With pregnant women it's about maintaining her health and that of her baby, it's only a temporary thing and 12 months after the birth they have to start paying again.

I'm not sure it sits well with me making children's prescriptions be paid for tbh.

It isn't about free prescriptions, it's about deliberate underfunding of the NHS so they can say it isn't working and sell it off to their mates, and we will all suffer if we make excuses for what they are doing.

Spindleshanks wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

Those over 60? Many people over 60 still work - especially now the pension age is rising. Many people who are retired get good incomes if they have a private pension.

Pregnant women who have an exemption certificate? Not sure why they get those tbh.

There are some specified medical conditions where people are exempt as well.

If someone needs a lot of prescriptions, they can get a prepayment card, so they're not paying huge amounts every month. I have one myself.

Perhaps parents could pay for those who are under 16 but pay less?

I've just been trying to find some information relating to the numbers of people in each group, over 60's, under school leaving age etc who are entitled to free prescriptions.  The only one i've found so far is that there are over 15 million people in the UK who are aged over 60.  I also read something which said there are more people over 60 than there are under 18.

I do actually think that while people are still working who are under the retirement age then they should still have to pay for prescriptions as well as not getting free bus passes, heating allowances and whatever else they are entitled to but that is my opinion.

With pregnant women it's about maintaining her health and that of her baby, it's only a temporary thing and 12 months after the birth they have to start paying again.

I'm not sure it sits well with me making children's prescriptions be paid for tbh.

I'm not sure why people over 60 are automatically deemed to be less able to pay for prescriptions. After all, a lot of people don't get their state pension until they're at least 65, and it's even older for many, so they're presumably still working. If people over 60 are more likely to need prescriptions because of age-related issues, they can get a prepayment card, as I mentioned. Even if they're retired, they're not necessarily poor anyway, so they could still pay.

I see no problem with paying for children's prescriptions, they could just cost less - say £2 or something.

Re pregnant women, being pregnant isn't an illness, and surely people who aren't pregnant need to have their health maintained too.

Raggamuffin wrote:Perhaps more should be done to combat stress-related illness, which costs the NHS quite a lot. Apparently, one in five visits to a GP are for psychological problems, quite often related to work-related stress. Stress can lead to self-medication, which can lead to further illness, and it can possibly even lead directly to some diseases, although I'm not sure that's been proved.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/Pages/workplace-stress.aspx

Well yes, but what?

Stress is a peculiar thing really, we are all under some level of stress at work, time constraints, financial pressures etc, but not everyone under the same level of pressure at work will end up at the doctors.

I guess some people just can't handle stress as well as others, I don't know quite how an employer would be able to identify that though.

sassy wrote:

Spindleshanks wrote:

I've just been trying to find some information relating to the numbers of people in each group, over 60's, under school leaving age etc who are entitled to free prescriptions.  The only one i've found so far is that there are over 15 million people in the UK who are aged over 60.  I also read something which said there are more people over 60 than there are under 18.

I do actually think that while people are still working who are under the retirement age then they should still have to pay for prescriptions as well as not getting free bus passes, heating allowances and whatever else they are entitled to but that is my opinion.

With pregnant women it's about maintaining her health and that of her baby, it's only a temporary thing and 12 months after the birth they have to start paying again.

I'm not sure it sits well with me making children's prescriptions be paid for tbh.

It isn't about free prescriptions, it's about deliberate underfunding of the NHS so they can say it isn't working and sell it off to their mates, and we will all suffer if we make excuses for what they are doing.

Well now you've contradicted your own argument where you said that if more corporations and billionaires paid more tax, it could go to the NHS. If the Government is deliberately underfunding the NHS, it wouldn't make a difference how much they paid - which was my opinion in the first place.

Raggamuffin wrote:

Spindleshanks wrote:

I've just been trying to find some information relating to the numbers of people in each group, over 60's, under school leaving age etc who are entitled to free prescriptions.  The only one i've found so far is that there are over 15 million people in the UK who are aged over 60.  I also read something which said there are more people over 60 than there are under 18.

I do actually think that while people are still working who are under the retirement age then they should still have to pay for prescriptions as well as not getting free bus passes, heating allowances and whatever else they are entitled to but that is my opinion.

With pregnant women it's about maintaining her health and that of her baby, it's only a temporary thing and 12 months after the birth they have to start paying again.

I'm not sure it sits well with me making children's prescriptions be paid for tbh.

I'm not sure why people over 60 are automatically deemed to be less able to pay for prescriptions. After all, a lot of people don't get their state pension until they're at least 65, and it's even older for many, so they're presumably still working. If people over 60 are more likely to need prescriptions because of age-related issues, they can get a prepayment card, as I mentioned. Even if they're retired, they're not necessarily poor anyway, so they could still pay.

I see no problem with paying for children's prescriptions, they could just cost less - say £2 or something.

Re pregnant women, being pregnant isn't an illness, and surely people who aren't pregnant need to have their health maintained too.

No, being pregnant isn't an illness but being pregnant can make a woman ill.

Spindleshanks wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:Perhaps more should be done to combat stress-related illness, which costs the NHS quite a lot. Apparently, one in five visits to a GP are for psychological problems, quite often related to work-related stress. Stress can lead to self-medication, which can lead to further illness, and it can possibly even lead directly to some diseases, although I'm not sure that's been proved.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/Pages/workplace-stress.aspx

Well yes, but what?

Stress is a peculiar thing really, we are all under some level of stress at work, time constraints, financial pressures etc, but not everyone under the same level of pressure at work will end up at the doctors.

I guess some people just can't handle stress as well as others, I don't know quite how an employer would be able to identify that though.

If I knew how to combat stress, I'd be rich.

It does seem to be a rising problem though, and it's costing more and more to the NHS. I think that understaffing is a problem, which also applies to the NHS itself, long hours possibly, longer commutes, traffic jams, a lot of pressure re deadlines, etc.

Spindleshanks wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

I'm not sure why people over 60 are automatically deemed to be less able to pay for prescriptions. After all, a lot of people don't get their state pension until they're at least 65, and it's even older for many, so they're presumably still working. If people over 60 are more likely to need prescriptions because of age-related issues, they can get a prepayment card, as I mentioned. Even if they're retired, they're not necessarily poor anyway, so they could still pay.

I see no problem with paying for children's prescriptions, they could just cost less - say £2 or something.

Re pregnant women, being pregnant isn't an illness, and surely people who aren't pregnant need to have their health maintained too.

No, being pregnant isn't an illness but being pregnant can make a woman ill.

A lot of things can make people ill, but they still have to pay for prescriptions, unless they're in an exempt group.

sassy wrote:

Spindleshanks wrote:

I've just been trying to find some information relating to the numbers of people in each group, over 60's, under school leaving age etc who are entitled to free prescriptions.  The only one i've found so far is that there are over 15 million people in the UK who are aged over 60.  I also read something which said there are more people over 60 than there are under 18.

I do actually think that while people are still working who are under the retirement age then they should still have to pay for prescriptions as well as not getting free bus passes, heating allowances and whatever else they are entitled to but that is my opinion.

With pregnant women it's about maintaining her health and that of her baby, it's only a temporary thing and 12 months after the birth they have to start paying again.

I'm not sure it sits well with me making children's prescriptions be paid for tbh.

It isn't about free prescriptions, it's about deliberate underfunding of the NHS so they can say it isn't working and sell it off to their mates, and we will all suffer if we make excuses for what they are doing.

Making more people pay for prescriptions would actually have very little impact on the amount of money the NHS had to spend.

I've been reading actually that charging people for prescriptions full stop can often be counter productive and cost the NHS more because many people who need a prescription won't get it because they can't afford it, the result being they could end up in hospital costing the NHS more in the long run.

Raggamuffin wrote:Perhaps they should make more people pay for prescriptions so there's more money coming in to pay for the NHS.

Why? I pay my NI.

Put the tax rate up to 50p, anyone who whines about it, remove their citizenship, simple.

We need to fund the NHS the shortfall is around £25BN, we lose £120BN to tax evasion.

Raggamuffin wrote:

Spindleshanks wrote:

Well yes, but what?

Stress is a peculiar thing really, we are all under some level of stress at work, time constraints, financial pressures etc, but not everyone under the same level of pressure at work will end up at the doctors.

I guess some people just can't handle stress as well as others, I don't know quite how an employer would be able to identify that though.

If I knew how to combat stress, I'd be rich.

It does seem to be a rising problem though, and it's costing more and more to the NHS. I think that understaffing is a problem, which also applies to the NHS itself, long hours possibly, longer commutes, traffic jams, a lot of pressure re deadlines, etc.

Is there more pressure being put on people nowadays to perform?

Schoolkids are a growing group of people suffering stress, doesn't really bode well for their working lives, does it?

scrat wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:Perhaps they should make more people pay for prescriptions so there's more money coming in to pay for the NHS.

Why? I pay my NI.

Put the tax rate up to 50p, anyone who whines about it, remove their citizenship, simple.

We need to fund the NHS the shortfall is around £25BN, we lose £120BN to tax evasion.

I also pay NI, but I still have to pay for prescriptions.

I'm sure those on minimum wage would love it if they were taxed that much. You don't support those on low wages then?

Raggamuffin wrote:

Spindleshanks wrote:

No, being pregnant isn't an illness but being pregnant can make a woman ill.

A lot of things can make people ill, but they still have to pay for prescriptions, unless they're in an exempt group.

True, but at least for pregnant women it's usually a transitional thing lasting only from the time a pregnancy is confirmed until one year after the baby is born (unless they are having baby after baby).

Spindleshanks wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

If I knew how to combat stress, I'd be rich.

It does seem to be a rising problem though, and it's costing more and more to the NHS. I think that understaffing is a problem, which also applies to the NHS itself, long hours possibly, longer commutes, traffic jams, a lot of pressure re deadlines, etc.

Is there more pressure being put on people nowadays to perform?

Schoolkids are a growing group of people suffering stress, doesn't really bode well for their working lives, does it?

I think there probably is more pressure. There's more pressure for young people to go to college, and in many jobs there's more pressure to do everything quickly. Everyone wants everything done yesterday. With more and more technology, there's more and more pressure because it's supposed to speed everything up, but you can't really speed up people's brains beyond their capacity without some kind of fallout.

Spindleshanks wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

A lot of things can make people ill, but they still have to pay for prescriptions, unless they're in an exempt group.

True, but at least for pregnant women it's usually a transitional thing lasting only from the time a pregnancy is confirmed until one year after the baby is born (unless they are having baby after baby).

It probably adds up to a lot of free prescriptions though, which could have been paid for.

Prescription fraud is something they need to clamp down on though, it costs the NHS a lot of money.

Accounts have varied between 100 million and 247 million per year according to what source you read.

Raggamuffin wrote:

Spindleshanks wrote:

True, but at least for pregnant women it's usually a transitional thing lasting only from the time a pregnancy is confirmed until one year after the baby is born (unless they are having baby after baby).

It probably adds up to a lot of free prescriptions though, which could have been paid for.

Depends on the woman I would imagine.

Some women will suffer badly and need lots of medical help including prescriptions, others won't.

Spindleshanks wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

It probably adds up to a lot of free prescriptions though, which could have been paid for.

Depends on the woman I would imagine.

Some women will suffer badly and need lots of medical help including prescriptions, others won't.

They can get a pre-payment certificate. Are most people even aware of these cards?

Raggamuffin wrote:

Spindleshanks wrote:

Is there more pressure being put on people nowadays to perform?

Schoolkids are a growing group of people suffering stress, doesn't really bode well for their working lives, does it?

I think there probably is more pressure. There's more pressure for young people to go to college, and in many jobs there's more pressure to do everything quickly. Everyone wants everything done yesterday. With more and more technology, there's more and more pressure because it's supposed to speed everything up, but you can't really speed up people's brains beyond their capacity without some kind of fallout.

Profits above people's health.

Raggamuffin wrote:

scrat wrote:
Why? I pay my NI.

Put the tax rate up to 50p, anyone who whines about it, remove their citizenship, simple.

We need to fund the NHS the shortfall is around £25BN, we lose £120BN to tax evasion.

I also pay NI, but I still have to pay for prescriptions.

I'm sure those on minimum wage would love it if they were taxed that much. You don't support those on low wages then?

So you consider an income in excess of £150,000 low wages? Wow!!! you must be taking home some lolly!

scrat wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

I also pay NI, but I still have to pay for prescriptions.

I'm sure those on minimum wage would love it if they were taxed that much. You don't support those on low wages then?

So you consider an income in excess of £150,000 low wages? Wow!!! you must be taking home some lolly!

When did you mention £150,000 before?

Oh, that's right - you didn't.

Raggamuffin wrote:

Spindleshanks wrote:

Depends on the woman I would imagine.

Some women will suffer badly and need lots of medical help including prescriptions, others won't.

They can get a pre-payment certificate. Are most people even aware of these cards?

Probably not.

They aren't worth it unless you need a lot of medication though.

It'll be people on lower incomes who need a dose of antibiotics or something who can't afford it so will go without who suffer most. These are the people who might likely end up in hospital costing the NHS a fortune just because they couldn't afford their prescription.

I don't think doctors should be prescribing things like paracetamol for example though.

Raggamuffin wrote:

scrat wrote:
So you consider an income in excess of £150,000 low wages? Wow!!! you must be taking home some lolly!

When did you mention £150,000 before?

Oh, that's right - you didn't.

eh, that's because £150,000PA is when the 50p rate used to begin, perhaps you shouldn't comment on things you know fuck all about!

Spindleshanks wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

They can get a pre-payment certificate. Are most people even aware of these cards?

Probably not.

They aren't worth it unless you need a lot of medication though.

It'll be people on lower incomes who need a dose of antibiotics or something who can't afford it so will go without who suffer most.  These are the people who might likely end up in hospital costing the NHS a fortune just because they couldn't afford their prescription.

I don't think doctors should be prescribing things like paracetamol for example though.

Hmmm, it's antiobiotics which are probably contributing to a lot of health problems actually. If they only need one prescription, it will cost them £8.40. They can afford that if it's a one off. Also, people on lower incomes don't necessarily get free prescriptions. Even people on contribution-based JSA don't get them free, and neither do people on minimum wage or those who work part time.

Do doctors prescribe paracetamol? Surely everyone knows you can buy it very cheaply.

scrat wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

When did you mention £150,000 before?

Oh, that's right - you didn't.

eh, that's because £150,000PA is when the 50p rate used to begin, perhaps you shouldn't comment on things you know fuck all about!

You didn't mention a salary, you just said tax should be 50p. I did assume you meant 50p in the pound, otherwise I would have agreed with you. I'd love to pay just 50p in tax.

Raggamuffin wrote:

scrat wrote:
eh, that's because £150,000PA is when the 50p rate used to begin, perhaps you shouldn't comment on things you know fuck all about!

You didn't mention a salary, you just said tax should be 50p. I did assume you meant 50p in the pound, otherwise I would have agreed with you. I'd love to pay just 50p in tax.

next time I'll draw you a picture if you think that might help!

Raggamuffin wrote:

Spindleshanks wrote:

Probably not.

They aren't worth it unless you need a lot of medication though.

It'll be people on lower incomes who need a dose of antibiotics or something who can't afford it so will go without who suffer most.  These are the people who might likely end up in hospital costing the NHS a fortune just because they couldn't afford their prescription.

I don't think doctors should be prescribing things like paracetamol for example though.

Hmmm, it's antiobiotics which are probably contributing to a lot of health problems actually. If they only need one prescription, it will cost them £8.40. They can afford that if it's a one off. Also, people on lower incomes don't necessarily get free prescriptions. Even people on contribution-based JSA don't get them free, and neither do people on minimum wage or those who work part time.

Do doctors prescribe paracetamol? Surely everyone knows you can buy it very cheaply.

Overuse or inappropriate use of antibiotics are causing problems yes.

So £8.40, ok, buy a prescription or put some gas on their key to keep warm. Heads you win, tails you lose. That is the dilemma facing some people Raggamuffin.

I know people on low incomes don't necessarily get free prescriptions, many families on tax credits don't get them either, it depends on their income level.

GPs are dispensing paracetamol that costs the NHS twice as much as the price of the same drug in supermarkets, figures show.
Up to 22m prescriptions a year are being written for the painkiller by GPs, costing clinical commissioning groups more than £80m, the BBC found.
That is the equivalent of 58p for a pack that can cost 14p in shops.
It comes after the BBC obtained figures showing how the NHS pays £1.6m annually for the drug, in Norfolk alone.
As a result, patients are being asked by GPs to buy their own paracetamol - however, shops can only sell two 16 tablet boxes at a time, while GPs can prescribe 100 tablet packs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33055847

Spindleshanks wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

Hmmm, it's antiobiotics which are probably contributing to a lot of health problems actually. If they only need one prescription, it will cost them £8.40. They can afford that if it's a one off. Also, people on lower incomes don't necessarily get free prescriptions. Even people on contribution-based JSA don't get them free, and neither do people on minimum wage or those who work part time.

Do doctors prescribe paracetamol? Surely everyone knows you can buy it very cheaply.

Overuse or inappropriate use of antibiotics are causing problems yes.

So £8.40, ok, buy a prescription or put some gas on their key to keep warm.  Heads you win, tails you lose.  That is the dilemma facing some people Raggamuffin.

I know people on low incomes don't necessarily get free prescriptions, many families on tax credits don't get them either, it depends on their income level.

GPs are dispensing paracetamol that costs the NHS twice as much as the price of the same drug in supermarkets, figures show.
Up to 22m prescriptions a year are being written for the painkiller by GPs, costing clinical commissioning groups more than £80m, the BBC found.
That is the equivalent of 58p for a pack that can cost 14p in shops.
It comes after the BBC obtained figures showing how the NHS pays £1.6m annually for the drug, in Norfolk alone.
As a result, patients are being asked by GPs to buy their own paracetamol - however, shops can only sell two 16 tablet boxes at a time, while GPs can prescribe 100 tablet packs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33055847

I didn't actually say that those on JSA shouldn't get free prescriptions though, I mentioned other groups. If people on minimum wage have to pay them, I don't see why someone who is over 60 gets them free, or pregnant women. I also don't see why people shouldn't have to pay something for children's prescription, unless that person is on JSA or whatever. That's why I said that more people could pay for them, or at least pay something towards them. I rarely see anyone pay for prescriptions, or use a pre-payment card.

If people are using prescription to get paracetamol, they should wise up and buy their own. Even if they're on low pay, they can still buy their own instead of getting it free on the NHS. That's just absurd, and doctors should stop it.

Doctors have to prescribe stronger painkillers, such as high-strength codeine, but normal codeine tablets can be bought in pharmacies.

Raggamuffin wrote:

Spindleshanks wrote:

Overuse or inappropriate use of antibiotics are causing problems yes.

So £8.40, ok, buy a prescription or put some gas on their key to keep warm.  Heads you win, tails you lose.  That is the dilemma facing some people Raggamuffin.

I know people on low incomes don't necessarily get free prescriptions, many families on tax credits don't get them either, it depends on their income level.

GPs are dispensing paracetamol that costs the NHS twice as much as the price of the same drug in supermarkets, figures show.
Up to 22m prescriptions a year are being written for the painkiller by GPs, costing clinical commissioning groups more than £80m, the BBC found.
That is the equivalent of 58p for a pack that can cost 14p in shops.
It comes after the BBC obtained figures showing how the NHS pays £1.6m annually for the drug, in Norfolk alone.
As a result, patients are being asked by GPs to buy their own paracetamol - however, shops can only sell two 16 tablet boxes at a time, while GPs can prescribe 100 tablet packs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33055847

I didn't actually say that those on JSA shouldn't get free prescriptions though, I mentioned other groups. If people on minimum wage have to pay them, I don't see why someone who is over 60 gets them free, or pregnant women. I also don't see why people shouldn't have to pay something for children's prescription, unless that person is on JSA or whatever. That's why I said that more people could pay for them, or at least pay something towards them. I rarely see anyone pay for prescriptions, or use a pre-payment card.

If people are using prescription to get paracetamol, they should wise up and buy their own. Even if they're on low pay, they can still buy their own instead of getting it free on the NHS. That's just absurd, and doctors should stop it.  

Doctors have to prescribe stronger painkillers, such as high-strength codeine, but normal codeine tablets can be bought in pharmacies.

I know you didn't, but there is often a misunderstanding made about people on tax credits getting free this and free that.

What it comes down to is that I don't think anyone should pay for prescriptions, they don't have to in Scotland or Wales so why should they in England?

Spindleshanks wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

I didn't actually say that those on JSA shouldn't get free prescriptions though, I mentioned other groups. If people on minimum wage have to pay them, I don't see why someone who is over 60 gets them free, or pregnant women. I also don't see why people shouldn't have to pay something for children's prescription, unless that person is on JSA or whatever. That's why I said that more people could pay for them, or at least pay something towards them. I rarely see anyone pay for prescriptions, or use a pre-payment card.

If people are using prescription to get paracetamol, they should wise up and buy their own. Even if they're on low pay, they can still buy their own instead of getting it free on the NHS. That's just absurd, and doctors should stop it.  

Doctors have to prescribe stronger painkillers, such as high-strength codeine, but normal codeine tablets can be bought in pharmacies.

I know you didn't, but there is often a misunderstanding made about people on tax credits getting free this and free that.

What it comes down to is that I don't think anyone should pay for prescriptions, they don't have to in Scotland or Wales so why should they in England?

Hmmm, then there would be even less money going in. It's really the people who have to have regular prescriptions who are paying the most, hence the pre-payment cards. I'd like to not pay, but I don't really mind that much as long as I don't have to pay a fortune. I just think that others should also pay something, and so few seem to - at least as far as I've observed when queuing at the counter.

Who is subsidising the people in Scotland and Wales?