Prescription charges set to rise

Health chiefs look to define NHS scope

Prescription charges are set to increase under a scheme proposed by government health chiefs.

A rise from £3.85 to £5 per-item has been confirmed, as well as an increase in the price of pre-payment certificates from £19 to £20 for four months, and from £54 to £60 for twelve months.

Despite a raft of rises, changes to exemptions which had been floated previously by the Department for Health and Social Care, such as eye test charges, have been dropped.

Officials say this was partly down to the responses received from a public consultation on the changes conducted last year.

Charges for dental service will also go up though in line with England's latest changes, from £18.50 to £20.60 for a standard visit, and from £50.50 to £56.30 for basic treatment.

More complex dental procedures will rise from £219 to £244.

The price hikes are set out in a document due to be presented to Tynwald this month.

It'll be submitted alongside a new charter, which seeks to define the scope of the Manx NHS and both the Department's commitments and public's rights.