Reminder: BD and Novofine pen needles deleted from September 2026 Drug Tariff
Pharmacy teams are reminded that a number of BD and NovoFine hypodermic insulin pen needles have been deleted from Part IX of the September 2026 Drug Tariff.
Any NHS prescriptions for the appliances listed below, where prescribed by brand, would be disallowed by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) if dispensed from 1 September 2026:
- BD AutoShield Duo 5mm/30 gauge
- BD Micro-Fine Ultra 4mm/32 gauge
- BD Micro-Fine Ultra 5mm/31 gauge
- NovoFine 8mm/30 gauge
- NovoFine Autocover 8mm/30 gauge
BD’s Diabetes Care business has transitioned to embecta, with a number of its pen needle products now supplied under the embecta brand. Following this transition, the affected BD insulin pen needle listings above have been removed from Part IX of the Drug Tariff, with new embecta product listings added. The manufacturer, embecta has produced a product reference guide showing the transition from the previous BD-branded packaging to the new embecta packaging.
If you receive a branded prescription for any of the deleted BD or NovoFine insulin pen needles listed above, the patient should be advised to contact their prescriber to obtain a replacement prescription for an appropriate alternative pen needle listed in Part IX of the Drug Tariff. Please note: if any of the deleted appliances are endorsed and supplied against generically written prescriptions, these will be disallowed by the NHSBSA.
A three-month advance notice of deletion for the affected products was published in the June 2026 Drug Tariff, with the changes highlighted in our Drug Tariff Appliance Watch: Notice of Deletion page. Each month, Community Pharmacy England publishes a list of appliances flagged with a notice of deletion on this page. Pharmacy teams are advised to keep track of appliances due to be deleted to manage stock holding and to reduce the risk of dispensing appliances that are no longer listed in Part IX of the Drug Tariff. Only appliances listed in Part IX of the Drug Tariff can be supplied against NHS prescriptions.
In the 12 months between July 2025 and June 2026, there were approximately 32,000 disallowed prescription items. Of these, 68% (around 21,000 items) were disallowed because the items ordered were not an appliance or chemical reagent listed in Part IX of the Drug Tariff.
Where an appliance prescribed on an NHS prescription is not listed in Part IX of the Drug Tariff, the item will be disallowed by the NHSBSA, resulting in the pharmacy owner not receiving payment for the product supplied. Pharmacy teams should therefore check that appliances are listed in Part IX before dispensing the prescription to reduce the risk of financial loss.
Note: The following embecta, BD and NovoFine insulin pen needles are currently listed in Part IX of the September 2026 Drug Tariff:
- BD Micro-Fine+ 8mm/31 gauge
- embecta AutoShield Duo 5mm/30 gauge
- embecta Micro-Fine 5mm/31 gauge
- embecta Micro-Fine 8mm/31 gauge
- embecta Micro-Fine Ultra 4mm/32 gauge
- NovoFine 4mm/32 gauge
- NovoFine 6mm/31 gauge
For further information and practical tips on reducing the risk of disallowed items, watch our Funding & Reimbursement Short: Disallowed items and visit our Referred back and disallowed items webpage.
