NHS HRT Prescription prepayment certificate
HRT PPC available from 1 April 2023
On 1 April 2023, a new Prescription Prepayment Certificate (PPC) will be introduced to reduce the cost of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Patients can find out more information on NHSBSA website https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/help-nhs-prescription-costs/nhs-prescription-prepayment-certificate-ppc
From 1st April 2023, patients who usually pay for their HRT prescriptions will be able to purchase an annual HRT PPC for the cost of two single prescription charges (currently £18.70). The HRT PPC, valid for 12 months, is applicable only to listed HRT items licensed for the treatment of menopause (see list below). The list of eligible HRT medicines will also be published in the April 2023 Drug Tariff.
A patient with an HRT PPC will continue to pay the prescription charge for any other (non-HRT) medicines (unless another exemption reason applies).
If HRT item and another medicine is prescribed on the same prescription (mixed prescription) then this presents a potential problem for a patient who has an HRT PPC because community pharmacy cannot process a prescription as both ‘exempt’ and ‘paid’ within the NHS prescription processing and pricing systems.
Hence prescribers in general practice must write HRT items on separate FP10 prescriptions for each item covered by the HRT PPC. This message has been communicated to prescribers.
