Government reveal prescription charge update after ‘tax on health’ was frozen earlier this year: ‘No one should put their health at risk’
NHS prescription charges in England will be frozen for the second year in a row, the Chancellor announced today.
Patients will continue paying £9.90, from May 2026, to collect their medication from a pharmacy.
Campaigners have long called the fee people must pay to secure certain drugs like blood thinners or asthma inhalers an ‘unfair tax on health’.
England is the only country in the UK that still charges, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all ditching the charges more than a decade ago.
The move could see patients save hundreds of pounds over the next year, given the fee for a single prescription typically rises around 30p each year.
The charge was frozen earlier this year in April — for the first time in three years — to help ease the ‘cost of living crisis’.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the move would save patients around £12million next year while those already exempt from paying prescriptions would continue to be so.
Announcing the freeze she said: ‘No one should put their health at risk because they can’t afford their medication, and as the cost of living still puts pressure on households I’m extending the cash freeze on prescription charges.
Patients in England will continue paying £9.90 to collect their medication from a pharmacy
‘Since taking office, we’ve been committed to fixing the NHS, and waiting lists are down by 230,000 over the past year.
‘At next week’s Budget I will take the fair choices to deliver what matters most to the country: cutting waiting lists, cutting the cost of living and cutting the national debt.’
Prescription prices will remain at £9.90 per item while three-month and annual pre-payment certificates will also be frozen for 2025/26.
A three-month prescription pre-payment certificate (PPC) will cost £32.05, while a 12-month one will remain at £114.50.
The cost of the hormone replacement therapy (HRT) certificate has also been frozen.
There are few pay exemptions for patients in England, including for those aged 16 to 18 and in full-time education or patients once they turn 60.
Drugs like contraception are almost always free.
Approximately £600million is generated each year in revenue from prescription charges in England for the delivery of NHS services.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the move would save patients about £12million next year while those already exempt from paying prescriptions would continue to be so
Pharmacy leaders today welcomed the move but urged the Government to go one step further and abolish the charge altogether.
Olivier Picard, chairman of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), said: ‘Many people choose not to collect some or all their prescription medicines because of cost, with potentially dire health consequences.
‘As pharmacists, we understand the healing power of medicines. So naturally we oppose arbitrary barriers to people getting the medicines they need.
‘The prescription charge is a tax that especially hits the working poor.
‘It’s good news the Chancellor is freezing prescription charges, but we’ve said for years that prescription medicines should be free, as they are in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
‘There are many exemptions for prescriptions but people should not be charged for vital medicines, it’s a tax on being ill.’
According to charity Age UK, in England, more than one in 10 people aged over 65 take at least eight different prescribed medications each week.
This increases to nearly one in four people aged over 85.
The Chancellor will make her Budget announcement next Wednesday on November 26.
