[Robatcymraeg]

It's all Gordon Brown's fault. When he was Chancellor of the Exchequer the Treasury made a ruling (for England) that any new prescription charge system must:_
a). Raise the same amount of revenue as the present flat rate charge
b). Keep exempt from charges any patient group currently exempt from charges

There was thus no point in even attempting to produce a new and realistic scheme.

Really, a charge should tailor the scripts to what the DoH (or the professions) want. Thus, as an exmple, you might scrap all the current exemptions and just say that 28 day scripts for generics would be exempt and all others charged at 10% of cost. This would tend to produce 28 day generic scripts -- without the need for Prescribing Advisers and yet let those who demand particular makes of medicines pay for their choice.