HRT pre-prepayment certificate – separate prescription required for HRT item(s)

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that from 1st April 2023, patients who usually pay for their Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) prescriptions will be able to purchase an annual HRT prescription prepayment certificate (PPC) for the cost of two single prescription charges (currently £18.70). The HRT PPC is valid for 12 months and can be used against the HRT prescription items listed in the Drug Tariff as being HRT licensed for the treatment of menopause.

To enable this, from the start of April 23, prescribers will need to issue separate prescriptions for these HRT items from other prescription items. If there is a mixed prescription i.e., both an HRT item and another medicine are prescribed on the same prescription, this prescription cannot be processed as both ‘exempt’ and ‘paid’ within the NHS prescription processing and pricing systems.