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Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
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Credit crunch means scarce public funds should be invested in NHS services not gimmicks
January 12, 2009 12:00 AM
Responding to claims by BMA Cymru that free prescriptions and free hospital car parking are just what the doctor ordered to counter the credit crunch, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Minister Peter Black said:
"People who are benefiting from these gimmicks know that there is no such thing as a free lunch. The price that must be paid for subsidising prescriptions and car parking is less money for much-needed drugs such as Sutent, less cash for new doctor's surgeries and less investment in improving our hospitals.
"The fact is that the vast majority of people who need free prescriptions were getting them before they were made available to everybody. All the Assembly Government has done is to extend the privilege to those who can afford them and do not need the subsidy. Free car parking has also caused chaos at many hospitals with staff no longer able to park near their place of work and patients missing appointments because they cannot find a parking space.
"I am in favour of targeted benefits that will help the worst off, but the present sledgehammer approach of the Assembly Government to free prescriptions and parking is contributing to the lack of investment in our NHS and leaving us trailing England in waiting times and services."
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