Written statement made by Lord Markham (Conservative) on Thursday, 9 March 2023 in the House of Lords, on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Prescription Charge Annual Uplift

My Hon Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Primary Care and Public Health) (Neil O'Brien) has made the following written statement:

Charges for NHS prescriptions, wigs and fabric supports

The National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (“the Amendment Regulations”) have today been laid before Parliament to increase certain National Health Service charges in England from 1 April 2023.

We have applied an inflation rate of 3.21%. This year we have increased the prescription charge by 30 pence from £9.35 to £9.60 for each medicine or appliance dispensed. The cost of prescription pre-payment certificates (PPC) will also be increased: 3-month PPC increases by £1 to £31.25 and 12-month PPC increases by £3.50 to £111.60. The recently introduced HRT PPC will cost £19.30.

Charges for wigs and fabric supports will also be increased in line with the blended inflation rate, as described above. Details of the revised charges for 2023/24 can be found in the table below:

	2022/3	2023/4	change in £
Single prescription charge	£9.35	£9.65	0.30
PPC 3 month	£30.25	£31.25	1.00
PPC 12 month	£108.10	£111.60	3.50
HRT PPC	n/a	£19.30	n/a
Surgical bra	£30.70	£31.70	1.00
Abdominal or spinal support	£46.30	£47.80	1.50
Stock acrylic wig	£75.70	£78.15	2.45
Partial human hair wig	£200.50	£207.00	6.50
Full bespoke human hair wig	£293.20	£302.70	9.50

Secondary information

Type: Written statement
Reference: HLWS613
Session: 2022-23
Subjects: Fees and charges Hormone replacement therapy NHS Prescriptions Pre-payment Wigs
Legislation: National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) (Amendment) Regulations 2023
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written statement on www.parliament.uk

Prescription Charge Annual Uplift

Secondary information

Librarians' tools