At the beginning of this week the Scottish Parliament announced that prescriptions will be completely free for everyone in Scotland. For the Welsh they are free already by order of the Welsh Assembly.
But, as a result THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND SUFFER HEALTH APARTHEID, stated David Wildgoose, Yorkshire member of the National Council of the Campaign for an English Parliament.
In England, said Dr Wildgoose, far from being abolished, prescription fees have actually risen. Even more of an outrage is that under the terms of the Barnett formula, a percentage of the tax revenue gained from English prescription charges is automatically handed over to Scotland and Wales.
Why should sick and needy English people, he asked, many of whom may struggle to find the cash to pay these charges, be forced to subsidise the free healthcare in Scotland and Wales that is not available to them? Whatever happened to the NHS principle of a UNIVERSAL health care free to all citizens of the UK at the point of need? On what grounds is it considered acceptable to make an exception fo those UK citizens who happen to be English?
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