Fury at SNP as NHS pays £9 for PARACETOMOL under 'free' prescription system
The SNP has been condemned for running a 'free' prescription system that means taxpayers are spending £23million a year on paracetamol - more than £9 each time.
The eye-watering cost of the arrangements in Scotland have been exposed by an analysis of official transparency data.
The SNP often boasts about scrapping payments for prescriptions north of the border in 2011, a policy worth around £1.5billion a year.
A trawl of Public Health Scotland figures suggests 2.5million prescriptions for paracetamol were issued in Scotland last year, at a cost of just over £15.5million.
That is equivalent to £6.13 per pack, according to the Telegraph. Together with the £2.97 average dispensing fee for prescriptions in the Scottish NHS, the cost was estimated at £9.10 - giving a total bill of £23million.
The price of a pack of 15 paracetamol tablets in a supermarket is as little as 35p.
The price of a pack of paracetamol in a supermarket is as little as 35p (file picture)
The SNP (pictured, leader John Swinney) often boasts about scrapping payments for prescription north of the border in 2011, a policy worth around £1.5billion a year
Scottish Tory MSP Stephen Kerr said the outlay for the NHS was 'outrageous'.
'The outrageous cost to the taxpayer of prescribing basic over the-counter medicines like paracetamol has become a stark symbol of the SNP's systemic incompetence,' he said.
The Telegraph said the costs per prescription have soared 88 per cent from £3.25 in 2019-20. At that point the overall price to the NHS, including dispensing fee, was £5.59.
In contrast, in England - where most adults pay for prescriptions - the NHS has been telling medics that paracetamol should almost never be prescribed as it is cheaper to buy over the counter.
However, a Scottish government spokesman said: 'We strongly disagree with these figures.
'The NHS reimburses paracetamol at the rate of £2.88 per 100 tablets, as listed in the Scottish Drug Tariff, which equates to approximately 46p for 16 tablets.
'In addition, the cost of prescribing of medicines such as paracetamol cannot be directly compared with the price of medicines bought in retail outlets due to the limited quantity that can be purchased over the counter without a prescription.
'We will continue to protect free prescriptions. Most people prescribed medicines such as paracetamol receive it to manage chronic pain, where alternative treatments can be more expensive or have the potential to cause more harm through an increased risk of side effects.'
Should taxpayers fund costly prescriptions for cheap medicines like paracetamol?
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Scottish Tory MSP Stephen Kerr said the outlay for the NHS in Scotland was 'outrageous'
