The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) confirmed last night (March 29) that prescription fees in England will stay at their current level in April, as per a DH statement to C+D earlier this week.

But the government is still considering any potential price increases beyond this point, the negotiator said.

The DH “has said that a decision is yet to be reached on prescription charges for the remainder of 2022/23”, PSNC Drug Tariff and reimbursement manager Suraj Shah told C+D today.

“Community pharmacy teams should be aware that a change could be announced later in the year: we will update you on this as soon as we are informed of any DH decision,” Mr Shah said.

C+D has contacted the DH for confirmation that the prescription charge may change in the near future.

No “plans” to announce increase

It comes after health minister Edward Argar said that there were no “planned” announcements for “any future increase” in response to a written parliamentary question last week (March 22).

When approached by C+D on Sunday (March 27), the DH told C+D that it had nothing further to add beyond the minister’s statement, while it confirmed that it was the first time in 12 years that prescription charges had not been raised.

Last year, prescription charges rose by 20p 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.