Rise In Dental Charges And Prescription Costs, Government Announce

Mon, 10 Mar 2008

The Government has announced that the cost of a prescriptions and dental charges in England are set to rise by 25p and 30p respectively.

Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said the 25p increase in prescriptions will take effect from April 1.

Prescription charges will also be cut to £5 for patients in Scotland from next month, although there are plans for the fee to be completely scrapped within three years. Prescriptions for patients in Wales will remain free, the Government added.

NHS dental charges will also rise with a basic treatment . For example, an examination, advice and any necessary X-rays or scale and polish will increase by 30p to £16.20.

The move follows last week’s report by the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) which found as many as 800,000 Brits failed to collect a prescription in 2007 due to the cost.

Ms Primarolo said the latest increase for England was well below the rate of inflation, making it "the 10th year in a row that the increase has been held below or around that level".

"In England, 88 per cent of prescription items are free of charge thanks to our extensive exemption arrangements," she said.

"Prescription charges are expected to raise £435 million in the next financial year – that's valuable income that can be ploughed back into the NHS ."
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