An opportunity to think differently?

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity" Albert Einstein If I'm honest I have hesitated before writing this blog. Talking about access to medicines is politically something of a hot potato. And if there is a ,on the face of it ,a difference between England and Scotland its a case of light the blue touch paper and stand well clear. But it's important we explore the issues away from party politics but as a necessary question for contemporary health and social care. And this blog is my personal attempt to widen the discussion. When we set up the Long Term Conditions Alliance in Scotland one of the first things we looked at was access to medicines and in particular prescription charges for those with long term conditions. There were huge anomalies with people with conditions like diabetes being eligible for free prescriptions ( although not if treated with diet alone) whereas those with asthma or arthritis for example had to pay.