Card for cut-price prescription

Prescriptions are at a lower rate in Wales than in England

People living in Wales who use a GP across the border in England will be able to claim lower-price prescriptions under a new scheme.

The assembly government's prescription entitlement card will ensure no-one living in Wales has to pay charges when they are scrapped in Wales next year.

Prescriptions in Wales are currently £3 per item. In England, they are over £6.

About 7,000 people living in Wales but registered with GPs in England are unable to buy lower-rate prescriptions.

A bilingual prescription form was introduced in August 2005 as part of a clampdown on so-called health tourism, involving people visiting Wales to obtain cheaper medication.

Currently, patients can claim the prescription for £3 only if they present the English and Welsh-language form, which is issued only by GPs or hospitals in Wales.

It would be cheaper for me if I wanted to go to Abergavenny to get my prescriptions Julie Wilcox

But under the new prescription card scheme, residents of Wales will be able to claim the cheaper Welsh prescriptions even with a form issued by a GP in England.

However, the prescription will have to be collected at a pharmacy in Wales.

Health Minister Brian Gibbons is due to visit pharmacies in Wrexham and Shotton on Friday to outline the scheme.

The assembly government plans to scrap all prescription charges in Wales by April 2007.

Mother-of-two Julie Wilcox is a resident of Grosmont, Monmouthshire, where many villagers are registered at a surgery across the border in Herefordshire.

'Health tourists'

She said: "I think a prescription card would be a good idea. It would be cheaper for me if I wanted to go to Abergavenny to get my prescriptions."

However, not everyone in the village is convinced by the scheme.

Councillor Bob Wilcox said it would only work to the benefit of those prepared to make the journey to Abergavenny or Monmouth, some 12 miles away, to collect their prescriptions.

He said: "My GP told me he has 800 patients in Wales. What they want is to do is to go to their local doctor and buy their prescriptions there at Welsh charges, not English ones."

In a statement, the assembly government said: "The card will allow Welsh residents who are registered with an English GP the opportunity to benefit from the reduced prescription charges in Wales.

"These patients have been unable to benefit from lower charges since the introduction of a bilingual prescription form in August 2005 that is only available from a Welsh GP or hospital.

"This was introduced to reduce the growing risk of attracting health tourists to take advantage of lower charges."