NHS prescription charges frozen for 2025/26
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that the NHS prescription charge will be kept at £9.90 per prescription item for 2025/26.
A Government press release today confirms that the NHS prescription charge will be frozen, as well as the costs for prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs). The list of prescription related charges are outlined below.
| NHS charges for | 2025/26 |
| Single prescription charge | £9.90 |
| PPC 3 month | £32.05 |
| PPC 12 month | £114.50 |
| HRT PPC | £19.80 |
Community Pharmacy England is in the process of updating its Prescription Charge Card and PPCs Poster so that pharmacies can display this information to their patients; both resources will be published shortly.
PPCs offer savings for those needing multiple prescription items or when a patient is prescribed a listed HRT medicine. Further information about the NHS prescription charge, PPCs and other resources can be found here.
Janet Morrison, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy England, said:
“Many patients will breathe a sigh of relief at news that NHS prescription charges have been frozen. But whilst any charge remains in place, community pharmacy teams will continue to be put in the awkward position of tax collector.
Pharmacy teams do what they can to highlight the support available to patients struggling to pay for their medicines, but they are also managing their own cost and capacity pressures. We hope that some of the administrative burden around the collection of the prescription charge will soon be eased by the removal of the requirement for paying patients to sign a declaration as announced in the recent CPCF settlement.”
