Consultation on NHS prescription charges
NHS prescriptions in England are not free for everyone (unlike Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland) – unless exempt there is a charge of £9.35 for most items, although some medications & appliances attract different charges. Individuals can be exempt on grounds of age (under 16, under 18 in full time education and over 60 years old), women who are pregnant or new mothers, those with certain medical conditions or those on specific low-income benefits. Of the 1.1 billion prescription items dispensed in 2018, almost 90% were reportedly free of charge. There is however, a possibility that changes are coming. To very little public fanfare, the government launched a consultation for 9 weeks in the run up to September 2021 around the possibility of increasing the upper age limit for free NHS presc
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