Yesterday, Sunak announced that the economy is pointing in the right direction.

They are all essential (I wouldn’t take unnecessary medication), but because the NHS deems that the anti-convulsive drugs should be foc everything else I am prescribed follows suit - which makes no sense to me. None of the other medications I take qualify for exemption so why should they also be given out without payment? There must be many, many people in England who get all their prescribed medicines free just because, like me, they suffer from one condition which qualifies for exemption from prescription charges. I think that is very wrong and it is an example of how the NHS wastes money. It would be very easy for the dispensing pharmacist to note the drug(s) on the prescription which qualify for exemption, put a cross in the box against them to signify ‘no charge’, and collect payment for the rest.

Anyway, I have had quite enough of this topic and the comments I have received, so will not respond further.

I had asthma as a child and lost about a third of my lung capacity from scarring. It returned post-50 when I had to pay for my NHS sprays until I retired when they became free. Asthma is a life-threatening disease (the famous heart surgeon Dr Christian Barnard died from an asthma attack when he did not have his spray to hand) but it was unfortunately never added to the list of NHS medicines provided free regardless of age. Bevan intended the NHS to be free at the point of delivery but we have regressed.