Pharmacists have been asked to share their experience of patients refusing prescriptions due to cost, as part of a survey launched by the Prescription Charges Coalition.

The survey will feed into the coalition’s ongoing campaign to have prescription charges scrapped for people with long-term conditions in England.

Coalition members the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) have asked pharmacists who have practiced in England within the last 12 months to share their experiences of patients partially or fully declining to have prescriptions dispensed because of the cost.

‘All coalition members understand that if patients in England cannot afford their prescriptions, the consequences of individuals not receiving their prescribed medicines can increase costs for the NHS because their health may deteriorate as a result,’ the RPS said in a statement published on its website.

It cited research from the York Health Economics Consortium that found that abolishing prescription charges for just two conditions – Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis) and Parkinson’s – would save the NHS over £20m a year.

This figure is based on a 2017 survey which suggested that around four in 10 people with Parkinson’s Disease or Inflammatory Bowel Disease who pay for prescriptions either do not take, or take their medicines less frequently, to reduce cost.

And even some people who had purchased a pre-payment certificate (PPC) were not 100% adherent for cost reasons, such as not being able to afford the PPC at the time it needed renewing or due to fears that overuse of the certificate would result in increases in the cost of the PPC in the future, the coalition found.

Non-adherence to medication resulted in increased numbers of hospital admissions, longer hospital stays and more emergency room visits, the researchers said.

And they calculated that the cost to the NHS of abolishing the PPC was less than the cost of the impact of non-adherence.

In a statement published today, the PDA said that common examples of non-adherence reported by pharmacists included patients refusing to take prescriptions for stomach protection, such as Omeprazole or Lansoprazole, when prescribed in conjunction with strong anti-inflammatory tablets such as Naproxen, which can lead to an increased risk of developing a stomach ulcer.

‘There have also been reports of patients with asthma, a long-term respiratory condition, refusing steroid inhalers due to cost and rationing their reliever inhalers instead, despite the advice of the pharmacist. This has a considerable effect on their long-term health,’ the PDA added.

A more recent patient survey conducted by the Prescription Charges Coalition (PCC) last year found that one in 10 respondents had skipped medications due to cost, and of those, 30% had developed an additional physical health condition, and 37% had developed a mental health problem in addition to their original health condition.

Over half (53%) of those who missed medication due to cost had had to take time off work for worsening health.

Complete the 2024 survey for pharmacists in England: Prescription Charges Coalition survey (surveymonkey.com)