It should also be pointed out that its not entirely a one way street - for example England has the excellent Cancer Drug Fund, which Scotland doesn't.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/scottish-cancer-patients...
Re:Scotland's Decision
by matthewmacleod on Thursday September 04, 2014 @07:47AM
(#8267659)
I would strongly disagree with the CDF being "excellent" – it's basically money cut from other NHS budgets and repurposed for expensive individual cancer therapies.
At the very least, an expansion and improvement of the existing equivalent system in Scotland (individual treatment request) would offer a better solution for the need to fund individual specific treatments that haven't been widely approved.
For people not in the UK: people in England pay for each item on a prescription. The charge is currently £8.05 per item. You can get discounts if you need multiple items. There are a bunch of exemptions - people with a thyroid problem for example - which mean that about 90% of items are free.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nhs-charges-from-april-20...