RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Relationship between increasing prescription changes and consumption in groups not exempt from charges JF The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners JO J R Coll Gen Pract FD British Journal of General Practice SP 154 OP 156 VO 36 IS 285 A1 Stephen Birch YR 1986 UL http://bjgp.org/content/36/285/154.abstract AB The further increases in National Health Service (NHS) patient charges introduced on 1 April 1985 represent a continuation of the Government's policy of requiring all except priority groups to pay an increasing proportion of the cost of their own treatment. Reductions in the use of the services on which charges are imposed would be incompatible with the stated objectives of the NHS. An analysis of the published data on NHS prescription dispensation shows that this policy has been associated with a considerable reduction in the per capita consumption of prescribed drugs in non-priority groups.