PATIENTS are set to be told to pay for their own medication in a bid to save hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Plans have been unveiled by Blackburn with Darwen CCG to recoup £663,000 per year by refusing to prescribe everything from pain relief and indigestion medication to head lice treatments, anti-histamines and sun creams.

And it has been confirmed that East Lancashire CCG, which covers Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, which has a significantly larger budget, is likely to be publish proposals for a similar policy in the near future.

The move is likely to have the biggest impact on people who are eligible for free prescriptions.

Russ McLean, chairman of East Lancashire Patients Voice, said while many might agree with painkillers and stomach pills being removed from the prescribing list, other medications would prove controversial.

“If you are talking about sun creams, for example, which may be prescribed for people with skin cancers, then this could be vital in ensuring sufferers can go out in the sunlight,” said Mr McLean.

“I would want to meet with the CCG and have an explanation of just why some of these medications, which can be very important to patients, should be cut.

“It would seem to me that the CCG are in debt and they are having to claw back money from patients, which is unacceptable.”

Health bosses in Blackburn with Darwen say that £232,336 is paid out for pain relief and £74,469 for indigestion relief each year.

The budget for anti-histamines is £71,664, £40,670 is spent on skin creams, head lice treatments cost £24,261 and the bill for sunscreen is £7,181, among a list of 20 medications for common complaints which would be axed from the prescribing list.

Clinical commissioners want patients to ‘self care’ - and claim many of the items can be bought over the counter for less than the £8.40 charge for a standard prescription.

Dr Preeti Shukla, the Blackburn with Darwen CCG’s clinical lead, said: “We want to encourage people to self-care where they can and there are lots of resources available to help them. The NHS Choices website is excellent for minor conditions and pharmacies are a good source of advice and support.

“By removing medicines for short-term, minor conditions from routine prescriptions, it will free up GP time to treat patients with more urgent or serious medical problems and it means dwindling medicines budgets can be used for more serious conditions.”

Andy Griffiths, Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen’s chief officer, said: “In the near future with the changes that will happen to health and social care services, as part of the current sustainability and transformation plan, it is vital that residents have a voice. I would urge the public to fill out the consultation online or contact us so we can challenge decision makers about the proposals and get people’s voices heard.”

Sir Bill Taylor, Healthwatch’s chairman, said: “Doctors and other prescribers always have patient safety and wellbeing at the top of their clinical priorities.

“Attending surgeries or accident and emergency for the genuinely trivial puts pressure on our NHS to deal with urgent or serious priorities.

“Where it is safe, and our local chemists are also qualified professionals, it makes sense for over-the-counter options to be sought.”

Other spending as part of the prescribing budget includes £27,779 for dandruff cradle caps, £5,918 for sore throat treatments, £5,503 on athlete’s foot powders, £6,1110 to combat the effects of teething, £1,492 on tackling warts and verruca and £5,367 for ear wax removal.

The public consultation exercise over the Blackburn with Darwen proposals will run until March 31.