FREE PRESCRIPTIONS IN ENGLAND

That this House notes that the principle that NHS care should be free at the point of delivery has been repeatedly endorsed but has not been delivered as far as many patients in England between the ages of 19 and 60 years is concerned; welcomes the extension of free prescriptions to cancer patients, but considers that attempts to produce a rational list of medical conditions which will qualify sufferers to free prescriptions are doomed to failure; and urges the Government to commit itself to the abolition of prescription charges as soon as possible, and until that can be achieved, to extend free prescriptions to all people in receipt of incapacity benefit, employment and support allowance and disability living allowance.