Hundreds of thousands of women in England can now access cheaper hormone replacement therapy under a scheme designed to reduce prescription costs.
Women prescribed HRT as part of menopause treatment will be able to obtain a year’s worth of medicine for £19.30, saving hundreds of pounds annually.
Health officials estimate the change will benefit about 400,000 women, with a prescription prepayment certificate for HRT valid for 12 months. Under the plan, women can use the certificate against a list of prescription items, although not all HRT products are covered.
Women can get the certificate online or in some pharmacies. It can be used as many times as needed in the 12-month period. The certificate includes access to eligible HRT items, including patches, tablets, pessaries and gels and creams applied to the skin.
Prof Dame Lesley Regan, the women’s health ambassador for England, said: “Making HRT easier to access will significantly improve the lives of many women who choose to use it, enabling them to reach their full potential.
“Many women do not realise that they are going through the menopause. Helping to make them aware about the inevitability of becoming menopausal is an important first step. The next step is improving awareness that HRT may be an option to help women manage this stage of their life course.”
The minister for women’s health strategy, Maria Caulfield, said the move was a key commitment of the government’s women’s health strategy.
“Often it’s necessary to use more than one type of HRT, and many women I have spoken to needed to try a few different types to get the right medication that works for them,” she said.
“Everyone is different, and price should not be a barrier to treatment – reducing the price of a year’s worth of HRT to under £20 is a huge moment of levelling the playing field.”
Dr Louise Newson, a GP and menopause specialist, said the scheme was “a step in the right direction” but raised concerns about its limitations.
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“There are too many barriers for women to access menopause treatment and cost of HRT is one so I hope this will really make a difference.
“However, it is disappointing to see that testosterone will not be covered by the certificate. Testosterone is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for symptoms of low libido where HRT alone is not helping and, in my clinic, patients often say it helps with other menopausal symptoms including brain fog and low mood.”
She said other potential issues were warnings from pharmacists that the IT infrastructure was not yet in place to support the rollout, and that not all HRT products were covered by the certificate.
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