Prescription charges set to rise from 1 May 2024

Prescription charges set to rise from 1 May 2024
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The Department for Health and Social Care has announced that NHS prescription charges in England will rise by 2.59% next month. 

From 1 May 2024, people in England will have to pay:

• £9.90 per single prescription item
• £32.05 for a 3 month Prescription Prepayment Certificate
• £114.50 for a 12 month Prescription Prepayment Certificate
• £19.80 for the new hormone replacement therapy Prescription Prepayment Certificate that was introduced last year

NHS surgical bras, abdominal or spinal supports are also set to rise. You can read more about the planned rise on the government’s website. 

These changes won’t affect prescriptions dispensed in April 2024.

Laura Cockram, Head of Campaigns at Parkinson's UK and Chair of the Prescription Charges Coalition, said:
"The NHS prescription charge price increase will strike fear into people living with long-term health conditions, such as Parkinson's. People are already struggling financially due to the cost of living crisis, and increasing the prescription charge will result in more people missing, reducing, or delaying taking their medication, meaning their condition will deteriorate. 

"Recent research from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Pharmacists' Defence Association revealed that more than a third of pharmacists (35%) said they have seen an increase in patients declining prescriptions in the last 12 months. This increase will only lead to a greater cost to health and social services and avoidable hospital admissions." 

You can find out more about the Prescription Prepayment Certificate or help you can get with NHS costs on the NHS Business Services Authority website.

We will continue to campaign for the government to review the exemption list and scrap the charge for people with long-term conditions in England.