Plans by the former Labour government to extend free prescriptions to all patients with long-term conditions in England have been scrapped as part of the latest Department of Health (DH) spending review.The move follows the announcement that prescription fees will be abolished in Scotland next year (C+D, October 23, p7). Experts said although the decision to keep the charges in England would have no financial impact on pharmacies, it could raise patient concerns about the system.

Alastair Buxton, head of NHS services at PSNC, said: “I think with patients in Wales and soon, Scotland, enjoying free prescriptions, it could raise a kind of ‘West Lothian question’.” He added that the only change  that free prescriptions would bring would be the removal of a layer of bureaucracy for pharmacists.His views were echoed by community pharmacist Michael Maguire, who also called for a review of the whole English system. Mr Maguire, of Marton Pharmacy in Middlesbrough, said: “It does seem strange that in Wales and Scotland people will be able to get prescriptions for free, whereas in England there are some long-term conditions that are covered and some that aren’t.”A spokesperson from the DH said the exact terms of the original plans to remove the charges in England had never been set out and added that the “status quo” for prescriptions would not change for patients and pharmacists.