There are two major changes coming to NHS prescriptions with millions set to be hit by higher fees as soon as next week.
After April 1, more people will face paying more for their prescriptions in what sadly isn’t a cruel April fool’s joke.
Last year, in an effort to help people with the cost of living crisis prescription charges were froze at £9.35
England is the only country in the UK that still charges for prescription medicines as Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all scrapped fees over a decade ago.
But since then, the Department of Health and Social Care has taken the step to increase prices in the face of persistently high inflation.
So prices are due to rise 3.21 per cent bringing them up to £9.65.
Alongside this, prescription pre-payment certificates (PPCs) will also see their prices hiked with the three month certificate increasing by £1 to £31.25 and the year-long one increasing £3.50 to £111.60.
Dr Leyla Hannbeck CEO of Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies said: “At a time when cost of living has increased for most households, it is an insensitive move by the department of health to increase prescription charges. This is additional workload for pharmacies to collect payment for prescriptions for the department of health.”
Even as millions more face increased prices, a number of people in England can still get their prescriptions free of charge.
This includes: over 60s, young people under 16 or under 18 if in full-time education, people who have given birth in the last year or are pregnant, or Brits who have a valid medical exemption certificate.
The second major change on the way from the start of next month is an effort to finally make hormone replacement therapy (HRT) more accessible.
HRT helps ease the symptoms of menopause by replacing hormones like Oestrogen and progesterone.
The introduction of a HRT PPC will let patients get an annual pass for the medicine for just £19.30.
This lets patients get unlimited HRT prescriptions from their doctors and is thought to help out around 400,000 women.
But, there are some concerns in prescribing HRT because ancient NHS IT systems won't allow it be listed alongside another medicine as it would be labelled as needing a payment.
Dr Hannbeck warned: "This can risk delays for patients. and if HRT and another medicine are on the same prescription pharmacies risk deductions of a prescription charges from their remuneration where no actual charge was collected
But she welcomed the move more generally, saying: “Introducing prepayment certificate for HRT is a welcome move for patients, but the chaotic way that the government officials have gone about implementing this is unacceptable as it is risking confusion for patients and extra workload and financial burden for already overstretched pharmacies.
There is still no functioning IT solution to support this service, nor a proper solution regarding mixed prescriptions. As usual pharmacists are left to deal with this chaos.”
GP, menopause specialist and founder of health app balance Dr Louise Newson said: "This is a step in the right direction: other hormones are freely available on the NHS to anyone so HRT should ideally be no different.
"Research has shown that women living in more deprived areas are less likely to be prescribed HRT. There are many health benefits from taking HRT, including reducing future risk of heart disease and osteoporosis, which many peri-menopausal and menopausal women are missing out from.
"There are too many barriers for women to access menopause treatment and cost of HRT is one so I hope this will really make a difference.
"However, it is disappointing to see that testosterone will not be covered by the certificate. Testosterone is recommended by NICE for symptoms of low libido when HRT alone is not helping, and in my clinic patients often say it helps with other menopausal symptoms including brain fog, energy levels and low mood.
"In addition Intrarosa pessaries, which are hormonal vaginal pessaries, are not included."
Others have also lauded the move but there are worries that the scheme might not get off to a smooth start.
Documents published last week by the DHSC reported that the prepayment certificate could cause an increase in workload and costs on pharmacy staff.
