Prescription Promise protest

This Strokecast was recorded on location outside the Houses of Parliament during the Prescription Promise protest. A coalition of charities got together to urge Gorden Brown to keep his promise of making prescriptions free for people with long-term illnesses.

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Text version of the podcast:

This episode features Keith and Steve from The Stroke Association, as well as one of The Stroke Association's Campaigners, Will. Fen Bagias is the media representative for Asthma UK.

Keith: Hello and welcome to another Strokecast. I’m standing outside a very nippy Houses of Parliament with the Prescription Promise coalition. The Stroke Association, along with several other charities, are here to hold Gordon Brown to his promise to make prescription drugs for chronic illnesses free of charge.

Fen: Hi there! I’m Fen Bagias and I’m the media representative for the Prescription Charges coalition, I also work for Asthma UK.

Keith: That’s fantastic, so what are we doing here today?

Fen: Well today we’ve organised a stunt here at Westminster to call on Gordon Brown to keep the promise he made in 2008 to make prescriptions free for people with long-term conditions.

Keith: So how do you think it’s gone today? Do you think it was a good turnout?

Fen: I think the turnout’s been brilliant; I’d say we’ve had between 40-50 people here representing a number of the charities who are involved with the coalition, for example The Stroke Association, Asthma UK and Mind.

Keith: That’s great. So if you saw Gordon Brown walking past us now, which I’m sure could happen, what would you like to say to him?

Fen: I would say, ‘Gordon, take today as a wake-up call. We need to see action on prescription charging as soon as possible and certainly before the General Election.’

Keith: That’s great Fen, thanks for your time.

Fen: Thank you.

Keith: I’m here with Will; he’s one of our campaigners with The Stroke Association. So, if you’d like to introduce yourself - tell us who you are.

Will: Hi, I’m Will. The reason I’m here today is really important because we’re reminding the Government of their promise to scrap prescription charges for all those folk who have long-term illnesses such as stroke, asthma, cancer… there’s just so many to list. I’m really passionate about helping people out in this and reminding the Government of their promise that they’ve made.

Keith: So are there any particular reasons, close to your heart, that you’ve come along [for] today other than the reasons you’ve just mentioned?

Will: Yeah, there are. My mother suffered with two or three strokes before she passed away in August [2009]; that’s one of the main reasons I’m here. But also because my wife has asthma and it will affect her with the prescription charges. I’m also making a difference to those who suffer from stroke.

Keith: Despite the cold weather today, have you had a good time? Do you think we’ve made a difference today?

Will: Well obviously there’s always a load of people in London so people can see what we’re doing, they can see the placards, and they can see what we’re about. Hopefully some of the media will pick it up and it will go national as well.

Keith: If by any chance you saw Gordon Brown, for example, is there anything you’d like to say to him?

Will: I think it’s just really important to remember that when you make promises you should keep them, whether you’re the prime minister or whoever you are really. It really will affect so many people across this country to be able to have free prescription charges - it’s just so important.

Keith: That’s great Will, thank you very much.

Will: No worries, thanks.

Steve: We wanted to get involved in this campaign because many stroke survivors have to unfairly pay for prescriptions.

Keith: That’s the voice of Steve Benveniste at The Stroke Association. So can you tell us why The Stroke Association is involved in this coalition?

Steve: A lot of stroke survivors end up having to go on medication as a result of stroke being a long-term condition and this includes things like warfarin and statins - vital medication that helps people prevent having a second stroke. We feel really that it’s unfair that people who are being responsible and taking medication that would actually end up saving the NHS money in the long term are then penalised for doing so.

Keith: What can our listeners do if they want to get involved?

Steve: Things have obviously ratcheted up in the last few weeks because it’s vital that the Labour government implements legislation that will bring in free prescriptions for everyone with long term conditions. The reason being [is] that the Conservative party have not pledged to do this, and it is likely that the Conservative party will win the next election. Therefore if nothing is done before the election then the whole initiative probably will be shelved. What people really need to do now is go to our website: www.stroke.org.uk/campaigns and go to the section on the Prescription Promise campaign. There we have a facility where you can email your MP about the issue, and I’d urge anyone who’d like to to do that in the next few days.

Keith: Right, well thanks to Fen, Will and Steve. Thanks very much for listening; we’ll be back with another Strokecast soon.