The cost of NHS prescriptions is rising today.
From Thursday, April 1, the price of a single prescription will rise by 20 pence to £9.35.
The price of a three-month PPC will become £30.25 (an increase of 60p) and a 12-month PPC will be £108.10 (an increase of £2.20).
The change was announced in February by the the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC).
This only applies to people in England as prescriptions are free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
However, many people are exempt from paying for prescriptions.
Here is a list of people who are entitled to free prescriptions in England:
- people aged 60 and over
- children under 16
- Teenagers aged 16 to 18 who are in full-time education
- Pregnant women and mothers of babies up to one year of age
- NHS hospital patients
- Some benefit recipients
- Some veterans
- Those with specified medical condition and have a valid medical exemption certificate
The list of conditions include:
- People with cancer who are undergoing treatment
- Some patients with diabetes
- Epilepsy patients who need continuous anticonvulsive therapy
- Those with a continuing physical disability which means they cannot go out without the help of another person
- Those with hypoparathyroidism and myxoedema (hypothyroidism which needs thyroid hormone replacement)
- People who have myasthenia gravis
- Those with a permanent fistula which needs continuous surgical dressing or an appliance
- Patients with a form of hypoadrenalism for which specific substitution therapy is deemed “essential”
The list of benefits includes:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Pension Credit Guarantee Credit
- Universal Credit
It was also announced earlier this month that a number of treatments have been scrapped by the NHS.
Doctors are advised not to prescribe the items to new patients, although there are a limited number of exceptions on health grounds.
The items are:
- Aliskiren
- Amiodarone
- Bath and shower preparations for dry and pruritic skin conditions
- Co-proxamol
- Dosulepin
- Prolonged-release Doxazosin (also known as Doxazosin Modified Release)
- Dronedarone
- Immediate Release Fentanyl
- Glucosamine and Chondroitin
- Herbal Treatments
- Homeopathy
- Lidocaine Plasters
- Liothyronine (including Armour Thyroid and liothyronine combination products)
- Lutein and Antioxidants
- Minocycline for acne
- Needles for Pre-Filled and Reusable Insulin Pens
- Omega-3 Fatty Acid Compounds
- Oxycodone and Naloxone Combination Product
- Paracetamol and Tramadol Combination Product
- Perindopril Arginine
- Rubefacients (excluding topical NSAIDs and capsaicin)
- Silk Garments
- Once Daily Tadalafil
- Travel Vaccines (vaccines administered exclusively for the purposes of travel)
- Trimipramine
