No hike in prescription charge for first time in 12 years, DH confirms
NHS prescription charges in England will not go up this year, the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) has confirmed to C+D.
This is the first time in 12 years that the DH has frozen prescription charges, it told C+D yesterday (March 27).
The last time prescription charges in England were frozen was in 2010, when they stayed at £7.20 per item.
Health minister Edward Argar said that there are no “planned” announcements for “any future increase” in response to a written parliamentary question last week (March 22).
He added: “Decisions on increases take account of a range of evidence, including the Gross Domestic Product deflator”.
What is the Gross Domestic Product deflator?
This is an indicator that measures the changes in prices for a country’s products and services. It shows the extent of price level changes.
Last year, prescription charges rose to £9.35 per prescription item.
This meant that price of a three-month prescription pre-payment certificate (PPC) increased to £30.25 and a 12-month PPC went up to £108.10.
The increase served as a “reminder” that community pharmacy teams are “also tax collectors”, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee pointedly remarked at the time.
The government launched a consultation last year that proposed raising the upper age exemption for prescription charges – currently set at 60 years of age – to 66 to align with the state pension age.
In its consultation document, the DH wrote that 1.1 billion items had been dispensed in 2018, with almost 90% of these being handed to patients free of charge. “Almost 63% of all items were dispensed free of charge because the patient was aged 60 or over,” the DH added.
