Pharmacists Call For Consistent Approach To 'Top-Up' Payments, UK

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 19 Jun 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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Responding to yesterday's announcement made by Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Health, of a Government review in to the current policy on 'top-up' payments for NHS treatment, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) has called for consistency and fairness to be overriding factors.

Paul Bennett, chair of RPSGB's English Pharmacy Board, said:

"The government has encouraged the development of multiple access routes to medicines, for instance by de-regulating some medicines (such as Simvastatin and emergency hormonal contraception) so that they can be purchased in pharmacies, while remaining accessible via GPs on prescription as well. Some patients are able and willing to pay to get quicker access to a medicine and make trade-offs between cost and time. No one has suggested that those who pay for medicines in this way should be ineligible for prescription medicines. Many patients also choose to pay for private diagnostic tests that do not impact on their right to receive treatment through the NHS.

"The issue of the affordability of new medicines - regardless of who pays - is linked to the overall system for funding pharmaceutical innovation. It may be that additional or alternative incentives are needed to fund the development of some new medicines for the treatment of major public health priorities. The review needs to consider government policy on other situations in which patients mix private and publicly-funded care, otherwise there will be major inconsistencies."

Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain

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