Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner has welcomed the announcement that the next Labour government will abolish prescription charges in England.

The £9.00 per item cost will be scrapped making health care truly free for those in need.

Research by the Royal College of Nursing shows prescription charges put people off from going to the chemists to get the medicines the doctor prescribed. Worryingly 87% said they knew of patients skipping their medication because of the cost of their prescription.

The move has been particularly welcomed by people with long term conditions like asthma and chronic kidney disease who can fork out up to £104 a year on medication.

Daniel Zeichner MP said: “This is a radical, caring and cost-effective idea. No one can tell when you will get ill and if you lose out on the lottery of health, in a caring society you shouldn’t then be faced with a bill. In the long term this can also save the NHS money because those people who don’t take their medicines at the moment for cash reasons often then come back with even more serious, and expensive to treat, conditions later on.”