NHS prescription charges in England will be frozen for the first time in three years, the Prime Minister announced today.
Patients in England will continue paying £9.90 to collect their medication from a pharmacy.
Campaigners have long called the fee patients must pay to secure certain drugs like warfarin or asthma inhalers an ‘unfair tax on health’.
England is the only country in the UK that still charges, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all ditching the charges over a decade ago.
Prescription charges were last frozen in 2022, for a year, to help ‘ease cost of living pressures’ — marking the first time the government did not impose an annual increase in 12 years.
The Government today said the move would save patients about £18 million next year while those already exempt from paying prescriptions will continue to be so.
Announcing the freeze on a visit to a health centre in Rossendale, Lancashire, Sir Keir Starmer, said: ‘Today we are freezing prescription charges so that means they won’t go over £10 and that is really significant, because very many people have to pay for prescriptions.
‘There’s a sort of cost-of-living crisis that is still very challenging for people, so this is an important measure in that.
Patients in England will continue paying £9.90 to collect their medication from a pharmacy
‘It’s not the only measure of course — we are taking steps on school uniforms to limit the cost of school uniforms, we’re driving up the minimum wage, we’ve got breakfast clubs coming on stream, that’s something we announced last week, which will save families about £450.
‘Each of these, in their incremental way, will ease the pressure that people feel because of the cost-of-living crisis.’
Prices will stay at £9.90 per item while three-month and annual pre-payment certificates will also be frozen for 2025/26.
A three-month prescription pre-payment certificate (PPC) will have the same cost as now, at £32.05, while a 12-month one will remain at £114.50.
The cost of the hormone replacement therapy (HRT) certificate is also frozen.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘This Government’s plan for change will always put working people first and our moves today to freeze prescription charges will put money back into the pockets of millions of patients.
‘Fixing our NHS will be a long road – but by working closer with our pharmacies we’re saving money and shifting care to the community where it’s closer to your home.
‘We made the difficult but necessary choices at the budget to fund moves like this and change our NHS so it can once again be there for you when you need it.’
There are few pay exemptions for patients in England, including for those aged 16-18 and in full-time education or patients once they turn 60.
Drugs like contraception are almost always free too.
Approximately £600million is generated each year in revenue from prescription charges in England for the delivery of NHS services.
