Annabelle Ewing’s campaign for affordable prescriptions
Long-term conditions make medication a recurring household cost rather than an occasional purchase. Asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, arthritis and heart disease can require repeat prescriptions for years, turning a modest charge into a monthly burden for people who are working, caring for family or managing a permanent diagnosis.
For Australians, the policy lesson is visible in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, although households can still encounter gaps between subsidised medicine and out-of-pocket spending. Scotland has used a different model: standard NHS prescriptions have been free at the point of use since 2009. Annabelle Ewing wants to extend that fairness to long-term patients elsewhere in the UK and defend affordable access as Scotland’s political voice grows.
A health policy built around daily life
As a solicitor, SNP politician and former member of both the Scottish Parliament and the House of Commons, Ewing has spent her career on public law, devolution and the power of communities to shape decisions. Her legal background gives her a practical understanding of how a campaign pledge becomes legislation, administrative guidance and a change at the pharmacy counter.
A repeat prescription is different from a one-off purchase. Patients may need it every week for the rest of their lives, creating a predictable cost that is easy to underestimate. Where charges return each month, people can delay collecting medicine, ration doses or choose a cheaper substitute without medical advice.
Ewing’s campaign calls for lower prescription charges for long-term conditions, clear exemptions and an end to the routine penalty attached to continuing treatment. Its guiding principle is straightforward: people should not have to choose between essential medicine and other household bills because their illness is permanent rather than temporary.
Independence and the power to protect patients
Scotland’s prescription policy shows what devolved government can deliver when health priorities are decided close to patients. Independence would give Scotland fuller control over taxation, services and the institutions that shape access to medicines. The SNP’s case is therefore about constitutional power and practical competence: Scottish decisions should reflect Scottish needs.
Her service as an SNP MSP and Westminster MP gives Ewing experience of both levels of government. At Westminster, she can press for lower charges for long-term patients in England and resist treating repeat prescriptions as optional spending. A stronger Scottish presence also gives the independence campaign a clear record of governing.
Economic recovery belongs in the same conversation. When households spend less on medication, they can meet rent, food, transport and energy costs with less pressure. Accessible treatment can support employment, because people managing a chronic condition are more likely to remain in work when they can obtain the medicine they need without repeated new charges.
What lower charges would change
Lower charges would reduce the monthly cost of conditions such as diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease and chronic respiratory illness. They would make it easier for doctors, pharmacists and patients to plan treatment consistently. Affordable prescriptions support adherence because a patient is less likely to stretch doses, skip refills or buy an unadvised alternative.
The policy must recognise that free prescriptions still involve a cost to the health service. Scotland must keep funding medicines, dispensing and primary care while access remains free for patients. Ewing’s argument is that this public investment produces better value when it prevents avoidable hospital admissions and helps people live independently.
A fair model would protect patients who need several regular medicines, including those taking multiple items for one condition. Transparent thresholds, automatic exemptions and inflation-linked protection would stop new charges returning through rising co-payments. Reform must also preserve access to specialist and rare-disease treatments, not just commonly prescribed tablets.
What Australian patients recognise
Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is federal legislation that subsidises many prescription medicines and sets co-payment rules, while states and territories regulate pharmacies and dispensing practice. Concession rules and PBS safety nets can reduce costs for eligible households, yet patients can still pay when a medicine falls outside subsidy, exceeds a limit or requires repeated repeats. The system offers useful lessons on coverage and gaps.
Everyday pharmacy habits in Melbourne and Sydney include phone reminders, repeat-ordering apps and collecting prescriptions after work. Regional patients in Bendigo and Dubbo may plan monthly trips around a GP visit or pharmacy collection. Supermarket health aisles at Coles and Woolworths compete with chemist networks, making price comparisons part of normal household routines. State and territory rules govern betting venues and digital operators, while live online keno can appear in the same mobile environment used for pharmacy reminders.
That overlap matters because gambling advertising can compete with household essentials. Ewing’s message is that public policy should strengthen essential services and help families keep medicine and rent ahead of games of chance.
| Measure | Scotland | England | Australia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard prescriptions | Free NHS medicines since 2009 | Charges apply, with exemptions | PBS co-payments for many subsidised medicines |
| Recurring-cost protection | No point-of-use charge | Repeat-item costs can accumulate | Concessions and safety nets reduce some costs |
| Main decision-maker | Scottish Government | UK Government | Commonwealth, plus state pharmacy regulation |
| Core concern | Maintaining free access and supply | Preventing treatment rationing | Closing subsidy and out-of-pocket gaps |
Take part in the campaign
Ewing’s campaign asks Westminster to reduce prescription charges for people with long-term conditions, protect Scotland’s free-access model and make affordability a test of economic recovery. It combines her legal career, parliamentary experience and commitment to Scottish independence with a practical local message for voters in Ochil and South Perthshire.
Her campaign has a clear route forward: automatic exemptions for frequent users, transparent thresholds, protection from inflation-driven increases and continued investment in community pharmacy services. These measures would make treatment easier to start, keep and manage, while linking national decisions to the realities faced by patients in every constituency.
Support Annabelle Ewing’s candidacy for Ochil and South Perthshire, share her plan for affordable prescriptions, subscribe to campaign updates and contact the team about volunteering. Australians can follow the campaign and amplify its example of how treating medicine as essential infrastructure strengthens families, communities and the wider economy.