If you are under 16, under 19 and in full time education, a pregnant woman, over 60, have medical exemption or someone on specific benefits and tax credits you do not need to pay for your NHS prescription.
The Prime Minister announced in the autumn 2008 that people battling cancer will be entitled to exemption from NHS prescription charges from this year (2009), if they hold a valid NHS Medical Exemption Certificate.
From today, cancer patients can pre-apply for an exemption certificate which will be valid from 1 April 2009.  To apply, patients should complete form FP92A available at their doctor's practice or NHS Trust oncology department.  Certificates are valid for 5 years and will be renewable for patients still receiving treatment for cancer or the effects of cancer treatment.
Exemption certificates will be issued to those, who in their doctor's judgment are receiving treatment for:

Guidance about the extension of the list of medical conditions has been issued to doctor's.  It includes guidance on who the new medical exemption is intended to cover. Anyone who pays for regular NHS prescriptions has the option of  buying a prescription prepayment certificate, which covers all your prescription fees for a set period. A short one lasting three months costs under £30 and long certificate is just over £100 (to help spread the cost you can pay for the year's certificate by 10 monthly Direct Debit instalments).

As a rough rule of thumb - pay for more than one NHS prescription a month and a prepayment certificate is good value, and if your condition is consistent, then the longer certificate is the better value of the two.

Patient B
Mr. B is a middle aged man on blood pressure tablets. When we first met Mr. B last year he was complaining about having to pay for his prescriptions. Yes, he understood that without his medication he would probably end up in hospital and yes, he appreciated that the actual cost of the medicines to the NHS was more than what he was being asked to pay but he was reluctant to part with the money. Understandable?

Well, we decided to see if we could help him. After checking his computerized medication record at our pharmacy and working out how often he was ordering medicines on his repeat prescription, we calculated that we could indeed save him money. His prescription was for 3 items which would cost him nearly £22. We advised him to purchase a prepayment certificate. Nowadays one can telephone and get registered immediately for a prepayment certificate by paying over the telephone with a debit or credit card. We told Mr. B that we would not charge him for the prescription that he had handed to us provided he purchased the prepayment certificate that same day. In fact Mr. B could see that he would save about £135 a year! He telephoned for a prepayment certificate from his mobile phone and had been given his prepayment certificate number by the time we finished dispensing his medication.

Some medicines prescribed on a prescription are cheaper to buy over the counter from the pharmacy than paying the NHS prescription charge. Come a visit us at Wootton Pharmacy and we will tell you if this is the case. Let us save you money.