Scotland looks set to retain prescription charges

Prescription charges for Parkinson's disease drugs in Scotland look like they will be retained in the face of public spending cuts, it has been claimed.

Parkinson's UK reports that the Scottish Parliament's Budget Review has recommended that prescription charges be retained in order to help achieve spending reductions of at least two per cent each year.

A workforce reduction of ten per cent also needs to be achieved, the review states.

Reacting to the news, Parkinson's UK campaigns officer for Scotland Tanith Muller said that people with long-term conditions such as Parkinson's disease should not bear the brunt of these costs.

"The current list of exemptions is arbitrary and unfair, and we believe that people with long-term conditions should not have to pay for their medicines," she added.

One person in every 500 UK citizens is currently living with Parkinson's disease, the charity estimates, equating to around 120,000 people.

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