{ "dataset": "prices.nhs-charges", "generated": "2026-09-20T13:56:19.427Z", "licence": { "compilation": "CC BY 4.0", "compilation_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "attribution": "Tariff Tracker, tarifftracker.io, published by PEF Consulting Partners Limited", "underlying": "The figures themselves belong to the bodies named in each dataset's sources. Most are Crown copyright under the Open Government Licence v3. Supplier tariff rates belong to the suppliers who publish them. Check the source terms before you rely on any of it commercially.", "corrections": "If a figure here is wrong, say so and we will correct it and record that we did." }, "docs": "https://tarifftracker.io/api/", "fields": "https://tarifftracker.io/api/v1/dictionary", "as_of": "2026-04-01", "sources": [ { "name": "Written statement HLWS1092, prescription freeze", "url": "https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-11-25/hlws1092" }, { "name": "Written statement HCWS1392, dental charges", "url": "https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-03-10/hcws1392" }, { "name": "NHSBSA, prepayment certificates", "url": "https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/help-nhs-prescription-costs/nhs-prescription-prepayment-certificate-ppc" }, { "name": "NHSBSA, medical exemption certificates", "url": "https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/help-nhs-prescription-costs/medical-exemption-certificates" }, { "name": "NHSBSA, NHS Low Income Scheme", "url": "https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-low-income-scheme" }, { "name": "NHS, help with health costs on Universal Credit", "url": "https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/help-with-health-costs/help-with-health-costs-for-people-getting-universal-credit/" }, { "name": "NI Direct, help with health costs", "url": "https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/help-health-costs" }, { "name": "NHS Scotland, dental charges and exemptions", "url": "https://www.nss.nhs.scot/patient-exemptions/dental-charges-and-exemptions/do-i-pay-for-dental-examinations/" } ], "caveats": [ "The Welsh dental figures here come from the Welsh Government's press release republished elsewhere, because gov.wales refused every automated request. The 50% and £384 cap structure is sound but we have not published per treatment Welsh figures, because we could not read them at source.", "NHSBSA's own HC11 leaflet still shows the 2025/26 dental charges. The figures on this page are the 2026/27 ones from the ministerial statement and the NHS England poster.", "Optical voucher values are the amounts currently published, but we could not confirm an April 2026 uprating date for them, so treat them as current published rather than confirmed 2026/27 figures." ], "data": { "vertical": "nhs-charges", "name": "NHS charges", "tagline": "Free at the point of use, except for the bits that are not. Prescriptions are frozen. Dentistry is not.", "headline": { "value": "£9.90", "unit": "/item", "label": "NHS prescription charge in England, 2026/27", "sub": "Frozen for a second year. It last rose on 1 May 2024. Free everywhere else in the UK.", "direction": "up", "change": "Prescriptions frozen, dental up 1.66%", "band": "elevated", "source": "DHSC", "as_of": "2026-04-01" }, "benchmark": null, "stats": [ { "k": "Prepayment certificate, 3 months", "v": "£32.05", "n": "Worth it from 4 items" }, { "k": "Prepayment certificate, 12 months", "v": "£114.50", "n": "Worth it above 11 items" }, { "k": "HRT certificate, 12 months", "v": "£19.80", "n": "Any number of HRT items" }, { "k": "Dental band 1", "v": "£27.90", "n": "Up 1.66% in April" } ], "tables": [ { "title": "Prescription charges in England", "note": "Frozen for 2026/27, confirmed by written statement in November 2025. This is the second successive freeze. Prescriptions are free for everyone in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.", "cols": [ "What", "Price", "Worth buying if" ], "rows": [ [ "Single item", "£9.90", "You need one or two items occasionally" ], [ "Prepayment certificate, 3 months", "£32.05", "You need 4 or more items in 3 months. Four items cost £39.60." ], [ "Prepayment certificate, 12 months", "£114.50", "You need more than 11 items in a year" ], [ "HRT prepayment certificate, 12 months", "£19.80", "You are prescribed any listed HRT medicine. No income test, no limit on the number of items." ] ] }, { "title": "NHS dental charges in England, from 1 April 2026", "note": "Up about 1.66% on 1 April 2026. Urgent treatment is charged at one band 1 fee even if it needs more than one appointment.", "cols": [ "Band", "Price", "Covers" ], "rows": [ [ "Band 1", "£27.90", "Examination, diagnosis, advice, X rays, scale and polish if needed" ], [ "Band 2", "£76.60", "Everything in band 1 plus fillings, root canal, extractions" ], [ "Band 3", "£332.10", "Everything in bands 1 and 2 plus crowns, dentures, bridges" ], [ "Urgent treatment", "£27.90", "One band 1 charge however many appointments it takes" ] ] }, { "title": "What you pay across the four nations", "note": "The gap between England and everywhere else is the single most useful thing on this page. Wales replaced its band system with a percentage contribution on 1 April 2026.", "cols": [ "Nation", "Prescriptions", "Dental" ], "rows": [ [ "England", "£9.90 an item", "Bands at £27.90, £76.60 and £332.10" ], [ "Wales", "Free for all residents since 2007", "50% of the value of your care package, capped at £384, from 1 April 2026" ], [ "Scotland", "Free for all since 2011", "Examinations free to everyone. Treatment is 80% of cost capped at £384, and all treatment is free under 26." ], [ "Northern Ireland", "Free for everyone, including wigs and appliances", "80% of gross cost capped at £384. Free under 18, and at 18 in full time education." ] ] } ], "facts": [ "The prescription charge in England has been frozen at £9.90 for two years running. It last rose on 1 May 2024, by 25p.", "A 12 month prepayment certificate costs £114.50 and pays for itself at 12 items. If you take a regular medicine you are almost certainly better off with one.", "The HRT certificate is separate and cheap at £19.80 a year, covering any number of listed HRT items.", "Everyone aged 60 or over gets free prescriptions and free sight tests in England.", "Universal Credit exemption is assessed per assessment period, so it can switch on and off month to month. That is a common cause of penalty charge notices for people who assumed they were covered.", "Contraceptives are always free, and so is anything given to you as a hospital inpatient.", "Wigs and fabric supports were also frozen for 2026/27: a surgical brassiere is £32.50 and a full bespoke human hair wig £310.55." ], "support": [ { "name": "Prepayment certificate", "what": "£32.05 for 3 months or £114.50 for 12, payable by instalments", "who": "Anyone in England. No income test. Straight arithmetic: 4 items in 3 months cost £39.60 against a £32.05 certificate, and 12 items in a year cost £118.80 against £114.50." }, { "name": "Medical exemption certificate", "what": "All prescriptions free", "who": "Cancer or its effects or treatment, a permanent fistula, hypoadrenalism including Addison's, diabetes insipidus and other hypopituitarism, diabetes mellitus unless diet controlled, hypoparathyroidism, myasthenia gravis, hypothyroidism needing replacement, epilepsy needing continuous therapy, or a continuing physical disability meaning you cannot go out unaided. Apply through your GP. It is backdated one month." }, { "name": "Maternity exemption certificate", "what": "Free prescriptions and free NHS dental treatment", "who": "Pregnant, or you have given birth in the last 12 months. Apply through your midwife, GP or health visitor." }, { "name": "NHS Low Income Scheme", "what": "Full help through an HC2 certificate, or partial help through HC3. Covers prescriptions, dental, sight tests, glasses, travel to treatment and wigs.", "who": "Income assessed. You cannot apply with over £16,000 in savings, or £23,250 if you live permanently in a care home." } ], "page": "https://tarifftracker.io/nhs-charges/" } }