{"id":83330,"date":"2025-08-20T21:10:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T21:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/83330\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T21:10:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T21:10:12","slug":"english-holidaymakers-obtaining-free-prescriptions-in-wales-though-loophole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/83330\/","title":{"rendered":"English holidaymakers obtaining free prescriptions in Wales though loophole"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo Phil Toscano-Heighton\/PA Wire<\/p>\n

Emily Price<\/p>\n

Concerns have been raised that English holidaymakers visiting Wales are taking advantage of a loophole that allows them to obtain free prescriptions.<\/p>\n

A GP from north Wales contacted Nation.Cymru this week warning that this summer had seen a rise in the number of people who live outside of Wales contacting primary care requesting repeat prescriptions \u2013 usually claiming they have forgotten their regular medication at home.<\/p>\n

The GP \u2013 who did not wish to be named \u2013 said: \u201cThere is a strong suspicion that people are doing this in order to avoid paying prescription charges, which they would have to do for their medication at their home address in England.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Welsh Government abolished prescription charges in Wales in 2007.<\/p>\n

It came after individuals with chronic conditions reported cutting back on essentials like food and bills to afford their medication.<\/p>\n

However, in England most working-age adults still have to pay for their NHS prescriptions.<\/p>\n

The current cost is \u00a39.90 per item \u2013 although certain groups are exempt and receive free prescriptions.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Increase<\/p>\n

But our source told us English holidaymakers are able to access prescriptions for free via out of hours doctors in Wales or by temporarily registering with a GP in Wales.<\/p>\n

They said: \u201cWe have all noticed an increase in the number of people either turning up at a GP practice or phoning the out of hours doctor in Wales saying they have forgotten all of their repeat medications, usually while they\u2019re here on holiday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey ask for all of their medications \u2013 then we are being asked to prescribe for things that you wouldn\u2019t normally be asked to prescribe in that situation \u2013 like routine things that they should have from their own GP.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt often sort of happens in an odd way \u2013 a husband, wife and daughter would all have forgotten their medications at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have noticed as well that when someone phones the out of hours doctor for something like that it shows their previous consultations with out of hours GPs in Wales.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it will be the third time in 18 months that someone has asked for all of their repeat medication from the out of hours doctor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey always just say that they\u2019ve forgotten them at home but it\u2019s quite obvious that some people are doing it to avoid paying for their prescription in England.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Data<\/p>\n

The north Wales GP added: \u201cWe have also seen an increase in the number of people registering as a temporary patient just to get their normal medication while they are on holiday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s this year that I\u2019ve really started to notice an increase in English patients doing this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t remember anywhere near as many people phoning up for repeat prescriptions last summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to get people phoning up if they were on an asthma inhaler and it had run out and they needed another one.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t used to get people phoning up asking for their statins and their blood thinners and everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nation.Cymru was also made aware of a pharmacy in Gower complaining of similar issues.<\/p>\n

Our source suggested Wales\u2019 tourism hotspots will be seeing more English patients trying to obtain prescriptions for free.<\/p>\n

We asked the Welsh Government if the administration collates data on how many people obtain repeat prescriptions from England whilst in Wales temporarily.<\/p>\n

We also asked if Welsh ministers had any concerns about the amount of English patients obtaining free prescriptions whilst on holiday in Wales.<\/p>\n

Emergency<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said visitors to Wales who require an emergency supply of their regular medication are advised to use the NHS Wales Emergency Medicines Supply service, available through participating community pharmacies in the first instance.<\/p>\n

Holidaymakers are encouraged not to register as temporary patients solely for the purpose of obtaining repeat prescriptions.<\/p>\n

Where ongoing medication is required, individuals should contact their usual GP practice, which may be able to issue a prescription remotely via the Electronic Prescription Service currently being implemented across Wales.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said: \u201cWe are proud that Wales was the first UK nation to introduce free prescriptions and see it as an investment in people\u2019s long-term health.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NHS Wales Community Pharmacy Emergency Medicines Supply (EMS) service enables individuals visiting Wales to obtain a short-term supply of essential medicines without the need to register with a GP, ensuring continuity of care while away from home.<\/p>\n

\u201cDecisions on whether to issue medication rest with the GP or pharmacist, who will assess clinical need and provide only what is necessary to cover the immediate period, rather than a full repeat prescription.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese arrangements are designed to ensure timely access to necessary treatment while maintaining the integrity of NHS services for both residents and visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was invited to comment but did not respond.<\/p>\n

Support our Nation today<\/p>\n

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\n independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by
\n the people of Wales.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo Phil Toscano-Heighton\/PA Wire Emily Price Concerns have been raised that English holidaymakers visiting Wales are taking advantage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,137,490],"class_list":{"0":"post-83330","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-medication"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}