NHS prescription charges are set to rise by 30p next month (Picture: Getty)
The cost of an NHS prescription is set to rise to £9.65 next month, the government has confirmed.
From the first of April, patients in England will be forced to pay an extra 30p to collect their medication from a pharmacy.
England is the only country in the UK that still charges for prescriptions, after Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all scrapped the charges over a decade ago.
Prescription charges were frozen at £9.35 last April in order to help ‘ease cost of living pressures,’ marking the first time prices had not increased in 12 years.
England is the only country in the UK to still have prescription charges (Picture: Getty)
But now the Department of Health and Social Care has announced prices will rise once again in line with inflation at a rate of 3.21 per cent.
The cost of prepayment certificates, prescription wigs and surgical bras will also be increased in line with the inflation rate.
The recently introduced HRT PPC- which gives women a sizable discount on their annual HRT costs- will also rise to £19.30, up from £18.70.
There are some exemptions in place for patients in England, including for those aged 16-18 and in full-time education or patients once they turn 60.
Most contraception drugs will also remain free.
Patients receiving Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Income-related Employment and Support Allowance are also still entitled to free prescriptions.
Others entitled to free prescriptions include pregnant women and those who have had a baby within 12 months, people with physical disabilities and people on war pensions who hold a valid certificate.
The news comes following a survey from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) last month which revealed that half of pharmacists had seen an increase in patients asking them which prescription they can ‘do without’ in the last six months due to the cost of living crisis.
One in two pharmacists said they had also seen a rise in people not collecting their prescription.
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Meanwhile, two-thirds had reported seeing an increase in requests for cheaper, over-the-counter substitutes for the medicine they had been prescribed.
The last time prescription charges increased was in 2021, when they rose 20p from £9.15 to £9.35.
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England is the only country in the UK to still charge NHS patients for their prescriptions.