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Citizens Advice: Prescriptions are too expensive

The cost of doctors' prescriptions is making people forego getting treatment for illnesses, Citizens Advice warned yesterday.

According to a recent poll from Ipsos MORI, 800,000 people in England failed to pick up their prescription last year due to its price.

This figure shows no improvement since the charity first raised the issue in 2001.

Citizens Advice is now campaigning for a government review of the prescription costs in England - a review which was also recommended by an MPs' committee 18 months ago.

Citizens Advice Chief Executive David Harker said: "Although the government says it recognises the links between poverty and ill health, the Department of Health's extraordinary delay in starting the consulting process has resulted in hundreds of thousands of people not being able to afford the treatments they need."

Better progress in Wales and Scotland regarding prescription costs has been marked in recent years, Mr Harker added.

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