English get less spent on their health than Scots In England, the prescription charge went up in April from £7.20 to £7.65. By contrast, people in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland now pay nothing for prescriptions. Eye tests are also free in Scotland, while they cost around £19 in England. The English can also feel short-changed when it comes to nurses, midwives and healthcare visitors, having a quarter fewer per head than the Scots. While in Scotland there are 1,124 such staff per 100,000 people, in England there are only 846. However, the report also notes that the Scots tend to have worse health than the English, and life expectancy is between two and three years shorter. Studies have shown this is largely due to worse diet and higher smoking rates, which some argue is down to more widespread poverty. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's Health Secretary, said: "I am proud that this report demonstrates the high quality service delivered by our NHS in Scotland. The audit office highlight that Scotland has the highest rates of GPs, hospital medical staff and nurses in the UK and we also spend more per head on health than England and Wales. As a result of this, Scotland's GPs outperformed England's on treatment and outcomes indicators for coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension and diabetes, we have the best waiting times performance in the UK, and the largest reduction in healthcare associated infection. However, a spokesman for the Department of Health said: "England spends less per person on health care than Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales but has similar if not better health outcomes." That argument is backed up by a 2010 analysis by the Nuffield Trust, a think-tank, which found the NHS in Scotland to be less productive than in England. It found the Scottish NHS delivered poorer healthcare "on almost every measure." Scotland has opted for a more centralised approach to the NHS and the SNP does not favour more private sector involvement, in contrast to the Coalition's controversial plans south of the border. However, Simon Burns, the Health Minister, was more interested in what was happening in Wales, where NHS spending is controlled by the Labour-run Welsh Assembly. He said the NAO report confirmed Wales was predicted to have the lowest per capita spending increase over the four years to 2014-15, of just 0.02 per cent per year. Ed Miliband claims he would protect frontline NHS spending if he was elected, but we only need to look at what the Labour government in Wales is doing to see what Labout would really do if they got their hands on the NHS in England. Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: "We consider that there would be value in the health departments in the four nations carrying out further work to investigate the variations in performance and identify how they can learn from each other to achieve better value for money for taxpayers and better care for patients."