3. The provision of nicotine replacement therapy in Scotland has been increasingly run by pharmacists with considerable success. Gradual reduction in the number of smokers comes partly as a result of pharmacists' time-consuming support of potential quitters. There will be huge long-term savings to the NHS as this trend continues.

4. In a clear contrast to accelerating privatisation of the NHS in England and Wales, the Scottish National Party was quick to introduce its flagship policy: abolition of prescription charges in Scotland. This bold move was not that expensive because so many of those who used the service heavily (such as the elderly) had previously been exempt from charges anyway. In fact, nearly half of the extra cost of free prescriptions was paid for by savings in the administration costs of policing the exemptions.

5. For those who previously didn't pay for their prescriptions, there is now the national minor ailments service under which they can obtain from pharmacies free over-the-counter consultations and advice – and only then, where appropriate, be supplied with relevant medication to treat the described symptoms. There is a large added benefit in that doctors are no longer spending half their day issuing prescriptions for cold remedies, paracetamol and hydrocortisone cream.

The NHS is arguably Scotland's biggest ‘industry', with a budget of nearly £12 billion and 156,000 employees. If Scotland can run its NHS so well by comparison to England and Wales, why should she not run the other great departments of state with equal success? William Wilson is the contractor of a Glasgow pharmacy and a retired pharmacist

The experience of community pharmacy in Scotland in the past 15 years shows that devolution of this major arm of the healthcare system has yielded far superior results compared to what has happened south of the border. There are five developments that illustrate this: 1. In its first year, the Holyrood parliament passed a bill to achieve proper distribution of community pharmacies. This avoided the dog-eat-dog competition that threatened Scottish pharmacies, with clusters around large health centres and no pharmacy service in large housing estates. 2. Prescription transmission going digital has been achieved quite smoothly in Scotland, with great cost-saving benefits. It has meant that forgery, which used to plague doctors and pharmacists, is impossible. Mistakes due to handwriting are obviated and pricing of the dispensed items for payment to the pharmacy is being steadily automated, markedly reducing costs. While the system has been running for several years in Scotland with relatively little teething trouble, huge IT problems have occurred in England, with massive financial losses to the NHS.
	In a  contrast to accelerating privatisation of the NHS in England and Wales, prescription charges were abolished in Scotland