Pharmacy bodies have cautiously backed government plans to scrap free healthcare for tourists and non-European migrants.  

Numark and Pharmacy Voice broadly supported calls to limit free access to the NHS as raised in a government consultation, which closed on Wednesday (August 28). However, they disagreed on whether the amount of administration involved should be a deciding factor in the plans.  

"Whatever system is used, it must be simple and easy to operate and not take healthcare practitioners away from patient care," argued Pharmacy Voice chief executive Rob Darracott. He suggested the most straightforward way of ensuring overseas patients paid for their medicines was to issue them with private prescriptions.  

However, Numark managing director John D'Arcy said concerns over the administration were an "insufficient argument" for not limiting free NHS access.  

"To say that this is too difficult to implement, so we should just treat migrants free of charge, conveys the wrong message," he argued. Continuing the current system would suggest the UK was a "soft touch" for free healthcare and that the NHS was incapable of managing demand, Mr D'Arcy told C+D.  

"We know all too well that the NHS cannot afford the current demand on services and the situation is worsening as treatment costs escalate in line with an ageing population," he added.  

Earlier this week, the British Medical Association (BMA) voiced strong concerns over the government proposals, stressing that the costs of administration could negate any potential savings.  

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) also branded the plans "regressive" and warned against GPs becoming a "border agency" for the NHS.

"These proposals would both compound the already unsustainable pressures facing GPs and practice staff and limit the ability of GPs to protect and promote the health of their patients and the public," said RCGP chair Clare Gerada.