In England, around 90% of prescription items are dispensed free.

This includes exemptions from charging for those on low incomes, such as:

• those on specific benefits or through the NHS Low Income Scheme
• those who are age exempt
• those with certain medical conditions
• More information is available at NHS Choices

These charges apply in England only.

In Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales prescriptions are free of charge.

• Prescription (per item): £9.65
• 3-month Pre-Payment Certificate (PPC): £31.25
• 12-month Pre-Payment Certificate (PPC): £111.60

If you will have to pay for four or more prescription items in three months or more than 14 items in 12 months, you may find it cheaper to buy a PPC.

• You can buy PPCs online or call the order line and pay by debit or credit card.

  PPC order line - 3 or 12 months
  Telephone: 0300 330 1341

If you need to access the services below, the medicines you're prescribed are free:

• medicines administered at a hospital or an NHS walk-in centre
• prescribed contraceptives
• medicines personally administered by a GP or provided via a patient group direction (PGD)
• medicines supplied at a hospital or clinical commissioning group (CCG) clinic for the treatment of a sexually transmitted infection, tuberculosis, or a mental disorder for those subject to a supervised community treatment order 

There is further information about prescription exemptions and fees on the NHS website.

You can get an HRT prescription prepayment certificate (HRT PPC) from the NHS if you’ve been prescribed an eligible hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medicine.

What you’ll get

The HRT PPC costs £19.30 for 12 months.

It will cover all your eligible HRT prescriptions for that period, no matter how many different medicines you need. There’s no limit on the number of HRT prescription items you can get with it while it’s valid.

You’ll save money if you’re going to buy more than 2 prescription items in 12 months.

If you have prescriptions for medicines that are not eligible

If you have other prescriptions that are not for eligible HRT medicines, you may save more with a 3 or 12 month standard PPC.