We are delighted to announce that the St Thomas' Lupus Trust has joined the Prescription Charges Coalition, taking us to 29 member organisations.  Our newest members have already been taking action.  Here's why they have joined the alliance, in the words of somebody with lupus - "Incurable chronic conditions should be prescription fee exempt.  We cannot help or control our condition and without easy access to sometimes expensive medicines we can quickly deteriorate and possibly even die.  We are being forced to pay for our lives!  Sounds extreme but it's true.  Without my Myfortic (mycophenolate mofetil), I could certainly say goodbye to my kidneys."  Read more

The Prescription Charges Coalition is pleased to announce that the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is also supporting campaigning to end unfair, outdated and inequitable prescription charges for people with long-term conditions.

Usdaw representative Lorraine Haves explains: "The Annual Delegate Meeting of Usdaw is an opportunity for representatives of the union to bring subjects for debate which affect our members and their families.
This year I chose the very worthwhile cause of lobbying the Government to give free prescriptions to those people requiring long-term medication. The  proposition was extremely well received and was unanimously carried and it will now be taken to parliament where hopefully they will finally understand how essential it is that people requiring long-term medication get this for free."

If you are a member of a union or similar group, why not take the opportunity to get your organisation supporting our call for an end to prescription charges for people with long-term conditions? We'd be very happy to hear from you!

A huge thank you to everyone who has taken our e-action, we've had almost 3,000 people write to their MP!

This work is really important, and it's clearly having an effect in raising awareness of the unfairness of prescription charges. Every MP we meet mentions the letters they've received from supporters of the Prescription Charges Coalition, and we've had lots back from Ministers and Shadow Ministers.

It's been a busy month for the Coalition, and our successful awareness raising work has led to several major new members joining, including the UK Thalassemia Society, the Sickle Cell Society and the Genetic Alliance. These organisations are deeply concerned about the impact of prescription charges, and will help strengthen our call for reform.

Our campaigning work (and your writing) has also helped us secure some high-level meetings over the coming weeks, and helped us identify potential allies in Westminster to help our cause.

If you haven't taken the e-action yet, click here. When you're done, why not tweet it, facebook it, or e-mail it to friends and family that are also paying the price for having a long-term condition?

Since the Prescription Charges Coalition launched the Paying the Price report on March 11th, we have seen almost 2,200 people take our e-action and write to their MP in 11 days - this is fantastic news, epecially as there are only 650 MPs in Parliament! If you haven't done this already, do please help us out by clicking here, it only takes two minutes.

We are also very pleased to welcome our newest Coalition members The Migraine Trust, and we expect to announce more new members very soon! Please do get in touch if your organisation would like to join.

This week has also seen Coalition member the Royal Pharmaceutical Society record a great podcast on the issue of prescription charging, which you can listen to here. If you read the Big Issue in the North, you will also see some coverage of the Coalition's campaign in there too.

Since the Prescription Charges Coalition launched its report Paying the Price earlier this week, this site has been viewed over 1,600 times, and hundreds of people have taken the e-action by writing to their MP to highlight the difficulties faced by people with long-term conditions. This is great progress!

Our report has also received a good deal of media coverage, including:

Primary Care Today

Chemist & Druggist

BBC Radio West Midlands have also interviewed NRAS CEO Ailsa Bosworth this morning.

Finally, we're also Mumsnet's campaign of the week, which can be seen here

The Government announced today that Prescription Charges are due to rise by 20p, to £7.85 from 1st April. 

Crohn’s and Colitis UK, lead organisation of the Prescription Charges Coalition issued the following statement:

Crohn’s and Colitis UK Chief Executive David Barker said: 

Patients with long-term  conditions are extremely disappointed to hear that Health Minister Earl Howe has announced a  20p rise in prescription charges to £7.85 from 1st April 2013. 
 
As a group of charities and  organisations representing millions of people with long-term conditions, we know that prescription charges are  arbitrary, outdated and inequitable, given that the list of exemptions has hardly been updated since its introduction in the 1960s.

Prescription charges have  risen every year since 1979, and the Minister must consider the impact this further increase will have on those who are already struggling to afford the essential medication required to keep them well.

The Coalition is due to  publish its report ‘Paying The Price’ on March 11th which tells a powerful story of a society paying too great a price for prescription charges.

We hope the Minister will  read this carefully and deliver the reform that would be priceless for all those with long-term conditions.

ENDS