Health Party Politics

posted: 13/04/2010

The health policies and the manifestos of the three main political parties in England are on their websites.

Conservative health policy        Conservative manifesto              

Liberal Democrat health policy   Liberal Democrat manifesto      

Labour health policy                Labour manifesto

Keep Free Prescription Promise

posted: 21/01/2010

UPDATED 26 January - further information

Gordon Brown promised at the labour party conference in 2008 to end prescription charges for people with long term conditions like HIV. Over a year later people are still paying. Now the Prescription Charges Coalition of 20 charities has called on Gordon Brown to keep his promise.
 

‘Prescription charges are a deeply unfair burden on people with long-term conditions — those who need medicines the most for day-to-day quality of life', they say in their letter. ‘Patients should not be prevented by an NHS charge from accessing treatment to improve their quality of life.'
 

Time is short because of coming election

The charities said they hoped that the government would be able to find a way to implement this policy as soon as possible. Time is short – new regulations need to be tabled within the next month or the general election will shut the door to reform.
 

Join the campaign and email your MP

Email your MP here and back the campaign – it’s easy to help.

first source 
another report

Keep Free Prescription Promise

posted: 07/12/2009

A simple email now to your MP could help Gordon Brown keep his promise. Over a year ago, at the Labour Party 2008 conference, Gordon Brown pledged to scrap prescription charges for all people with long-term medical conditions, including HIV. He didn’t say when he would scrap the prescription charges, leaving us all waiting in the dark. We are still waiting.
 

People with some health problems never have to pay prescription charges. But the list of conditions that passport people to free prescriptions hasn’t been updated since it was written in 1968. HIV is not on the list, simply because HIV was discovered almost twenty years after the list was made.

While HIV medicines themselves come free because they are prescribed by the hospital, other medicines (for depression, anxiety, and everything else) have to be paid for.

Many people with HIV have no right to free prescriptions and these costs rapidly mount up. Some people cannot afford to collect the drugs they need from the chemist.
 

Actions, not words

Please email your MP to ask the Secretary of State for Health for the abolition of prescription charges for people with HIV and other long-term conditions.
 

Easy-peasy

Simply click the link, then add your details and it will write a custom letter from you to your MP – please be patient while it writes your personalised letter.
 

Disunited Kingdom

Each prescription item now costs £7.20 in England. Wales has already abolished prescription charges, Northern Ireland abolishes them in 2010 and Scotland will abolish them by 2011 - meanwhile Scotland is cutting the cost year by year - they are £4 now and will be £3 from April. England? they went up in April again to £7.20.