A whopping 1,064,992 people paid full price for at least 12 prescriptions during the 2021/22 financial year, with an average of 16 items purchased, according to a freedom of information request to NHSBSA by the website Moneysavingexpert.com.

But paying the full £9.35 for each prescription instead of an annual prepayment certificate (PPC) for £108.10 means these patients lost out on around £41.50 each, Moneysavingexpert.com calculated.

This equates to an overspend of roughly £44m on NHS prescriptions during that time period.

Read more: No hike in prescription charge for first time in 12 years, DH confirms

Moneysavingexpert.com founder Martin Lewis said this week (January 3) that it was “frustrating to hear that many people are still paying more than they need to – especially at a time when every penny counts towards bills”.

A “simple rule of thumb” is that patients who buy more than one prescription a month will save money if they buy either a yearly PPC or one that lasts for three months – which costs £30.25 – he advised patients.

He added: "So someone getting, say, two prescriptions a month would save over £100 a year. If you think that's you, check it out now in case we see another price hike at the beginning of spring."

It follows an interview BBC Radio Bristol conducted with community pharmacist Ade Williams – who is part of the Prescription Charges Coalition – last month (December 19).

The Bedminster Pharmacy superintendent told listeners his team was considering paying for some patients’ prescriptions, after seeing that some could not afford to pay for some or all of their medicines over the past few months.

He said: “For many people where they’ve [previously] had disposable income and incidental episodes of ill health, [this] has just been something they’ve been able to factor in. Now they don’t have those buffers.”

The Prescription Charges Coalition is a lobbying group that campaigns to abolish prescription charges for patients with long-term conditions. Organisations such as the Pharmacists’ Defence Association, the National Pharmacy Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society count themselves as members.

Prescription charges were frozen at £9.35 per item this April – marking the first time the government did not impose an annual increase in 12 years.

Read more: Cost of living: Pleas to scrap script charge as patients forced to reduce meds

And in October, a respiratory charity called on the government to scrap the prescription charge following new data that indicated the cost-of-living crisis was forcing patients to cut back on medicines.

England remains the only country in the UK to still make some patients pay for their prescriptions.