14.03.16
Prescription charges to increase by 20p
Prescription charges will increase from 1 April, the Department of Health told Parliament on Friday.
In a written statement, Alistair Burt, minister for community and social care, said that prescription charges will increase by 20p, from £8.20 to £8.40 for each medicine or appliance.
In total, prescription prices increased by £1 from 2010 to 2015.
Charges for wigs and fabric supports will increase by 1.7% and optical voucher values will rise by 1%.
However, Burt said that 90% of prescription items would remain free.
“To ensure that those with the greatest need, and who are not already exempt from the charge, are protected we have frozen the cost of the prescription prepayment certificates (PPC) for another year,” he added. The three-month PPC remains at £29.10 and the cost of the annual PPC will stay at £104.
The charge increase comes at a time of increased financial pressures for the NHS, as it faces a £2.3bn deficit, which Chris Hopson, CEO of NHS Providers, admitted recently is unlikely to be eliminated by the end of 2016-17.
A new Social Prescribing Network was also launched last week to help promote social prescribing, which allows patients to access local, non-clinical services.
The Cancer Drugs Fund recently lost the power to prescribe drugs that aren’t NICE approved after it was criticised by the Public Accounts Committee for mismanaging its funds.