Increasing numbers relying on NHS support for cost of prescriptions
Millions of patients rely on financial help with the costs of their medicines through NHS schemes, figures show.
Most of the schemes offered by the NHS have seen increasing numbers of accepted applications year on year, the analysis notes.
Data from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) show a 7% increase since last year in the number of people given an NHS Low Income Scheme certificate to help with prescription and other healthcare costs, such as travel for treatment.
In all, 259,000 NHS Low Income Scheme certificates were issued in 2025/2 – 162,000 HC2 certificates which provide full help with costs and 97,000 HC3 which entitles individuals to partial help.
Almost a quarter of the HC3 certificates were issued to people aged 20-24 years, the figures show.
One in five certificates providing full help on the basis of income were issued to people aged 65 years and over the NHSBSA said.
The number of HC3 certificates rose most steeply, with a 10% increase last year.
Data also showed regional variation, with an estimated 81 certificates were issued per 10,000 population in Birmingham and Solihull ICB, the highest of all ICBs in 2025/26 compared with 30 per 10,000 in Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB.
In 2025/26 there were also 436,000 medical exemption certificates issued, a decrease of 9.9% from 2024/25.
These are issued to individuals with specific conditions, including diabetes, epilepsy and cancer with eligibility confirmed by the GP.
With these certificates re-issued on a five-year cycle, the fall could relate to fewer being issued in the pandemic year of 2020/21 after which there were four years of increase, NHSBSA added.
Last year also saw a 5.6% increase in use of NHS Hormone Replacement Therapy Prescription Prepayment Certificates with 572,000 issued.
For a one-off payment, the certificate covers an unlimited number of certain HRT medicines for 12 months, regardless of why they are prescribed.
The scheme was introduced in 2023 to reduce costs of HRT to £19.30 a year.
The vast majority of prescription payment support came through NHS Prescription Prepayment Certificate (PPC) with 3.2 million issued in 2025/26, the figures showed, a 2.3% rise from the previous year.
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