Advance notice of 8 products moving to Category H in September 2026
Following the introduction of Category H in March 2026, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that the following 8 products will move from Category C to Category H, effective from September 2026:
- Alfuzosin 10mg modified-release tablets
- Diclofenac 100mg suppositories
- Felodipine 10mg modified-release tablets
- Felodipine 2.5mg modified-release tablets
- Felodipine 5mg modified-release tablets
- Fluticasone furoate 27.5micrograms/dose nasal spray
- Nicotine 7mg/24hours transdermal patches
- Sodium fluoride 0.05% mouthwash sugar free
This is the second set of products to move from Category C to Category H, following the first set of 11 products that moved in March 2026, bringing the total number of products in Category H to 19. The Category H reimbursement prices for these products will be published in the September 2026 Drug Tariff (available to view three working days before the end of August). Community Pharmacy England will continue to monitor the impact of any changes following the move to Category H.
We understand DHSC’s ambition is to move all eligible multi-source Category C products to Category H, in a phased approach. Community Pharmacy England has strongly objected to DHSC’s proposals to consider all multi-source drugs in Category C as we believe many are not appropriate or suitable for entry to Category H. Currently, over 100 products in Category C appear to meet DHSC’s entry criteria for Category H. We have urged DHSC to take a cautious approach with moving these to Category H.
Please note: where a drug is available as both a generic and branded product, DHSC will continue to assess if the generic is suitable for entry to either Category A or Category M, subject to meeting the associated entry criteria. If a generic drug does not fulfil the entry criteria for Category A or M, it will be assessed for entry to Category H.
Category H is updated quarterly in the following months: March, June, September and December.
Background
In December 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced that it will be introducing Category H to Part VIIIA of the Drug Tariff from March 2026. Certain products available from multiple suppliers in Category C will move to Category H in a phased approach. DHSC will set reimbursement prices for multi-source products in Category H using sales data from suppliers obtained under the Health Service Products (Provision and Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2018. DHSC aims to set reimbursement prices this way to better reflect the actual purchase prices of these products and to support fairer distribution of medicine margin.
This change, being imposed by DHSC, forms part of a series of community pharmacy drug reimbursement reforms following a public consultation in 2019. Additionally, this was one of the actions outlined in the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) 2025/26 funding settlement to support medicine margin arrangements.
Community Pharmacy England has objected to the introduction of the changes at this time because of the wider challenges pharmacies are facing and the risk that further changes could disrupt the already turbulent medicines supply chain.
