Pensioner facing £72 bill to have medicine delivered to his home

A STRABANE pensioner with limited mobility has expressed his outrage that a prescription delivery service that has been free for the past two decades will now cost upwards of £72 a year.

Eugene McColgan, 74, from Lisnafin who has previously relied on the delivery of life-saving medication from the Medicare Group, recently received a letter informing him of the new charges. They range from a one-off delivery fee of £5, a monthly subscription charge of £8, or an annual subscription fee of £72.

Speaking to the Strabane Chronicle, Mr McColgan said any new costs will severely impact on older people.

“I’ve been getting prescriptions delivered from Medicare for myself and my wife before she passed, for the past 20 years without being charged a penny,” he said. “I got this letter hand-delivered through my door on Tuesday – it was a big surprise.”

Mr McColgan, who takes up to 14 tablets a day for conditions like high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat and cancer, relies heavily on this delivery service.

“I’m on 11 different packets of medications and taking up to 14 tablets a day for a number of ailments, including high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat and cancer, so I rely on getting the monthly delivery from Medicare. It’s not like I can go and get it myself; I’m not even able to walk from my house to Lisnafin shop, never mind make it to the Melmount Road.”

While Mr McColgan is particularly concerned about the sudden imposition of the charge, his main issue is the lack of communication.

He continued, “What has upset me most is the lack of communication; two weeks before the charges are due to take effect (this is) putting not just a burden on myself but on other pensioners, who may not be able to afford to pay it; £72 is a lot of someone’s pension per year and pensions may be going up, but they’re not going up that much. I don’t know how that price can be justified.”

Despite understanding that businesses have overheads, the local man remains unconvinced by the justification for the charges.

“Medicare is, at the end of the day a business so overheads are inevitable. However, the group has 53 stores all across the North which is filled with staff so there’s obviously money coming in from somewhere so why can’t they leave prescriptions alone? I’m not trying to get anyone laid off, far from it, but people need to be made aware this is coming down the road.”

In response, Colin Deehan, director of operations at the Medicare Group, defended the decision to introduce the charges.

“Our aim in introducing this charge was to minimise the cost, as we understand the importance of accessibility and convenience for our patients. However, in order to continue providing this service for those who need it, we have had to make this difficult decision.

“We note that this is a decision that has already been made by other pharmacy contractors, and whilst we have tried to hold off for as long as possible, we find ourselves having to introduce a nominal charge to maintain this service.”