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Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has notified pharmacy teams that starting 1 August 2024, three Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) medicines will be discontinued and will no longer be covered under the NHS HRT Prescription Prepayment Certificate (HRT PPC) scheme. These are Bedol® 2mg tablets, Climanor® 5mg tablets and Clinorette® tablets. Since Climanor® 5mg tablets have been discontinued, Medroxyprogesterone 5mg tablets will also be removed from the HRT PPC list, as this generic product is no longer available as a licensed HRT medicine. The CPE also noted that Provera® 5mg tablets, being an unlicensed HRT medicine, are not covered by the HRT PPC. Pharmacy staff are advised to check the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) website for the most current list of HRT medicines covered by the HRT PPC. The CPE has updated its HRT PPC medicines list to reflect these changes, which will also be updated in Part XVI of the August 2024 Drug Tariff.

The current funding and contractual framework for community pharmacy is not fit for purpose, the Health and Social Care Committee report has concluded, recommending a complete overhaul to reduce its complexity. Published today, the report highlighted the necessity for a new framework to ensure adequate funding and to prevent damaging cross-subsidy between clinical services and prescription dispensing, as is presently observed. The report revealed that community pharmacy funding has fallen by over 30 per cent in real terms since 2015, resulting in an annual shortfall of at least £67,000 per pharmacy for individual owners. More than 1,100 community pharmacies have closed since 2015, of which were serving the most deprived areas, it said. MPs on the committee have urged the government to address medicine shortages, warning that they could undermine flagship initiatives such as 'Pharmacy First' by eroding public confidence in pharmacists. "People living with type 2 diabetes, ADHD, epilepsy and cystic fibrosis, and those experiencing the menopause, have faced challenges accessing the vital medication they need. Many others are facing similar experiences.