Prescription charges to end in 12 months

Prescription charges will continue to fall this year before being removed completely in twelve months time.

Confirmation that the SNP Government will scrap the charges next year comes as Labour and the Tories bring forward plans to cut the scheme. 

Labour want the scheme to be restricted whilst the Tories want it scrapped all together.

"Our aim remains to remove altogether this tax on ill-health and move towards restoring the NHS to its founding principles - free at the point of delivery and based on clinical need, not ability to pay.

"It is total nonsense to say that free prescriptions mostly benefit the well-off. There are many hundreds of thousands of people on modest incomes who are not already entitled to free prescriptions, with around 600,000 in families with incomes of less than 16,000 pounds.

"In addition, many thousands with long-term conditions will no longer face ongoing financial penalties just because they're living with illness. Already, we have seen a huge rise recently of people buying Prescription Pre-Payment Certificates as costs have come down."