News / Bristol
Greens pledge to scrap prescription charges
Green leader Caroline Lucas visited a chemist in Easton to launch the party’s pledge to scrap prescription charges.
Joined by Molly Scott Cato, the Green Party candidate for Bristol West, she also promised to restore an NHS that is genuinely free at the point of use.
During their visit to Day & Night Chemist on Stapleton Road, Scott Cato accused the Government of fining people for being sick and creating barriers which stop people accessing the medication they need.
is needed now More than ever
Bristol West Green Party candidate Molly Scott Cato and Green leader Caroline Lucas
Scott Cato said: “I am very proud to launch our policy on free prescription here in Bristol. It is an important plank of our health policy and a vital part of our commitment to a universal healthcare system for the UK that’s free at the point of use.
“The principle of our NHS is that it’s free at the point of use, that we should not need to be afraid of falling sick because we cannot afford treatment. It is quite clear that the prescription charge violates this fundamental principle.
“The charges that have crept into our health system are a fundamental attack on the public health system so close to the hearts of all British people.”
Day & Night Chemist owner Imran Ahmed said: “One of the issues we find with patients that do have to pay for prescriptions is that it’s a false economy. A typical example is somebody with asthma who has to use a preventer and a reliever inhaler who, often, because of the charges will just use the reliever and not the preventer.
“We would like to see prescriptions being free.”
Read more: 2017 General Election candidate profiles: Bristol West
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