At the same time the Scots, whose charges will end altogether by 2011, enjoyed a 25 per cent fall in the price of their prescriptions from £6.85 to £5

The rise and fall of charges for people on opposite sides of the Border will add to discontent in England about the higher level of funding for public services in Scotland.

Under the Barnett Formula, Scots receive £1,500 more of public spending per head than their English neighbours.

They already have access to free eye care and dental check ups, free personal care for the elderly, extra central heating grants and a number of drugs deemed “too costly” for the National Health Service in England and Wales.

Critics claim that the system has become a “postcode lottery” in which the English are subsidising the Scots, allowing the Scottish National Party to reap political benefits by gradually abolishing fees.

More than 720 million prescriptions are written in Britain every year, bringing in almost £500 million to the National Health Service.

The 25p increase was announced last month a week after a Citizens Advice report found that as many as 800,000 people in England failed to collect a prescription last year due to the cost.

Charges in Wales were abolished last year.

Scottish ministers believe it will cost around £70 million to abolish the charges for Scottish patients – £50 million for loss of income and £20 million to allow for increased take up.

Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Health Minister, said: “I am delighted to see the Scottish Government deliver on a key manifesto commitment, and take a major step in the phased abolition of prescription charges.

“We believe that prescription charges are a tax on ill health and a barrier to good health.

From:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/02/nhealth402.xml

Health Direct post only yesterday highlighted the postcode lottery in cancer drugs.