From the 1st of April women in England prescribed Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), will be able to apply for a new prescription pre-payment certificate (PPC). This new certificate makes HRT easier than ever to access and will save around 400’000 women hundreds of pounds a year.

This new certificate will make HRT more accessible than ever before - helping around 400,000 women save hundreds of pounds a year.

Women prescribed HRT will be able to apply online for a digital or paper version of the certificate. When collecting their HRT products, patients can then show the certificate to the pharmacist and complete the exemption declaration on the NHS prescription form. The PPC remains valid for 1 year. It may be used to access a wide range of HRT products, for example, tablets, patches and topical preparations.

This is part of the Women’s Health Strategy for England published last summer. The strategy sets out an ambitious new agenda for improving the health and wellbeing of women and girls and to improve how the health and care system listens to women. Menopause was announced as a priority area within the strategy.

As a practising doctor working for the NHS, Dr Poulter has previously specialised in women’s health. He is pleased that this strategy is attempting to remove some of the stress from what can sometimes be a difficult time for women.

A list of the HRT items in scope of the HRT PPC can be found here