The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has today (26/04/2024) confirmed the following initial list of price concessions for April 2024.
This announcement comes late in the month and follows the decision by DHSC, under the direction of Ministers, to impose changes to concessions pricing from April to try to manage purchase margins. DHSC has applied its new margin reduction formula as a final step, delaying the announcement through the addition of another layer of complexity to the concessions process.
Community Pharmacy England has strongly opposed this, and is continuing to warn Government and the NHS that putting further pressure on pharmacies to dispense at a loss will have very serious consequences for the sector, patients and the wider primary care system.
All pharmacy owners are encouraged to contact their MPs about the ongoing intolerable pressures on the sector using our guidance for writing to your MP and/or our latest briefings for politicians.
Drug
Pack size
Price concession
Amoxicillin 250mg/5ml oral suspension
100
£2.16
Anastrozole 1mg tablets
28
£1.38
Aripiprazole 10mg tablets
28
£6.88
Aripiprazole 15mg tablets
28
£7.30
Aripiprazole 5mg tablets
28
£6.12
Azithromycin 250mg capsules
6
£4.45
Baclofen 10mg tablets
84
£2.71
Bimatoprost 100micrograms/ml eye drops
3
£4.33
Bimatoprost 300micrograms/ml / Timolol 5mg/ml eye drops
3
£8.75
Bumetanide 1mg tablets
28
£2.46
Calcipotriol 0.005% / Betamethasone dipropionate 0.05% gel
60
£22.91
Calcipotriol 0.005% / Betamethasone dipropionate 0.05% ointment
30
£10.11
Cefalexin 250mg capsules
28
£2.04
Cefalexin 500mg capsules
21
£2.46
Chloramphenicol 0.5% eye drops
10
£4.35
Cinacalcet 30mg tablets
28
£7.79
Clarithromycin 125mg/5ml oral suspension
70
£4.03
Clarithromycin 250mg/5ml oral suspension
70
£5.50
Co-amoxiclav 250mg/125mg tablets
21
£2.44
Co-amoxiclav 500mg/125mg tablets
21
£3.84
Co-careldopa 25mg/100mg tablets
100
£7.55
Co-codamol 15mg/500mg tablets
100
£3.11
Co-codamol 30mg/500mg capsules
100
£5.70
Colecalciferol 1,000unit capsules
30
£5.89
Digoxin 125microgram tablets
28
£2.63
Digoxin 250microgram tablets
28
£2.51
Digoxin 62.5microgram tablets
28
£2.78
Docusate 50mg/5ml oral solution sugar free
300
£17.75
Donepezil 5mg tablets
28
£1.60
Dorzolamide 20mg/ml / Timolol 5mg/ml eye drops 0.2ml unit dose preservative free
60
£24.03
Dorzolamide 20mg/ml eye drops
5
£3.55
Duloxetine 20mg gastro-resistant capsules
28
£7.52
Duloxetine 30mg gastro-resistant capsules
28
£1.98
Duloxetine 40mg gastro-resistant capsules
56
£11.25
Duloxetine 60mg gastro-resistant capsules
28
£3.06
Escitalopram 10mg tablets
28
£1.22
Escitalopram 20mg tablets
28
£1.43
Escitalopram 5mg tablets
28
£2.50
Esomeprazole 40mg gastro-resistant capsules
28
£2.81
Estradiol 10microgram pessaries
24
£9.40
Estriol 1mg/g vaginal cream
15
£5.36
Etoricoxib 30mg tablets
28
£4.03
Etoricoxib 60mg tablets
28
£11.89
Etoricoxib 90mg tablets
28
£11.42
Ezetimibe 10mg tablets
28
£10.10
Famotidine 40mg tablets
28
£28.37
Fenofibrate micronised 160mg tablets
28
£3.28
Haloperidol 1.5mg tablets
28
£3.23
Haloperidol 5mg tablets
28
£4.35
Irbesartan 300mg tablets
28
£1.25
Isotretinoin 20mg capsules
30
£9.83
Ketoconazole 2% shampoo
120
£17.51
Lactulose 3.1-3.7g/5ml oral solution
500
£3.38
Latanoprost 50micrograms/ml / Timolol 5mg/ml eye drops
2.5
£6.01
Lofepramine 70mg tablets
56
£18.05
Mebeverine 200mg modified-release capsules
60
£6.42
Memantine 10mg tablets
28
£1.20
Memantine 10mg/ml oral solution sugar free
50
£42.50
Memantine 20mg tablets
28
£1.60
Metformin 1g modified-release tablets
56
£3.19
Metformin 500mg modified-release tablets
56
£1.74
Methylphenidate 10mg tablets
30
£2.98
Metoclopramide 10mg tablets
28
£1.09
Midazolam 10mg/2ml solution for injection ampoules
10
£5.33
Mometasone 0.1% ointment
30
£3.38
Mometasone 50micrograms/dose nasal spray
140
£9.20
Montelukast 10mg tablets
28
£1.81
Morphine sulfate 10mg/1ml solution for injection ampoules
10
£8.03
Mycophenolate mofetil 500mg tablets
50
£6.50
Nebivolol 2.5mg tablets
28
£10.96
Nebivolol 5mg tablets
28
£6.00
Nortriptyline 10mg tablets
100
£2.33
Olanzapine 10mg tablets
28
£1.04
Ondansetron 4mg tablets
10
£6.06
Oxycodone 10mg/1ml solution for injection ampoules
5
£6.05
Paracetamol 500mg effervescent tablets
100
£5.57
Pregabalin 150mg capsules
56
£2.07
Pregabalin 200mg capsules
84
£4.50
Pregabalin 300mg capsules
56
£3.08
Pregabalin 50mg capsules
84
£24.00
Primidone 250mg tablets
100
£88.02
Prochlorperazine 3mg buccal tablets
50
£8.43
Propantheline bromide 15mg tablets
112
£100.61
Pyridostigmine bromide 60mg tablets
200
£17.44
Quetiapine 100mg tablets
60
£2.15
Quetiapine 150mg tablets
60
£2.74
Quetiapine 200mg tablets
60
£3.19
Quinine sulfate 200mg tablets
28
£7.05
Quinine sulfate 300mg tablets
28
£3.10
Rasagiline 1mg tablets
28
£36.00
Risperidone 2mg tablets
60
£1.92
Risperidone 4mg tablets
60
£2.22
Rizatriptan 10mg tablets
3
£6.67
Ropinirole 2mg tablets
28
£26.95
Ropinirole 500microgram tablets
28
£15.00
Simvastatin 20mg tablets
28
£1.04
Sodium chloride 0.9% nebuliser liquid 2.5ml unit dose ampoules
20
£9.50
Sodium valproate 200mg/5ml oral solution sugar free
300
£11.85
Tacrolimus 0.1% ointment
60
£35.28
Tamsulosin 400microgram / Dutasteride 500microgram capsules
30
£11.50
Temazepam 10mg tablets
28
£24.19
Terbinafine 1% cream
30
£6.87
Terbinafine 1% cream
15
£3.44
Trospium chloride 20mg tablets
60
£12.24
Zolmitriptan 2.5mg tablets
6
£16.45
Zolmitriptan 2.5mg tablets
12
£32.90
Zonisamide 100mg capsules
56
£23.31
Zonisamide 50mg capsules
56
£23.57
Please note: Community Pharmacy England has submitted price concession applications for a number of other medicines affected by pricing issues this month. We will issue further updates as soon as we hear back from the Department.
Notes
There are no prices that rolled over from the previous month.
No additional endorsements are required for price concessions. A price concession only applies for the month it is granted; any prices agreed for concessions requested late in the month will roll over into the following month.
Next Steps
Pharmacies should continue to report any problems obtaining a Part VIII product at or below the stated Drug Tariff price, using the online feedback form on our website. Please include full details of the supplier and price paid for any products sourced above the Drug Tariff price. We will investigate the extent of the problem and, if appropriate, submit further price concession applications to DHSC. Any prices granted by DHSC, will only be agreed by Community Pharmacy England if they are supported by the reports received by our team.
Please subscribe to our mailing list to receive email updates of any price concessions.
Background to the changes
DHSC announced in the April 2024 Drug Tariff its decision to manage retained buying margin by limiting concessionary prices. From April to June 2024, DHSC will be seeking to recover c£5.4m per month from the community pharmacy sector by squeezing price concessions.
This experiment, imposed by DHSC under the direction of Ministers, is replacing the usual process of making margin adjustments to Category M reimbursement prices for this quarter. Community Pharmacy England remains firmly opposed to this approach, or any recovery of margin, given the very serious financial fragility of community pharmacies. We have serious concerns about the ongoing impact on pharmacy businesses and their patients.
Further information on price concessions and FAQs about the process involved can be found on our website (cpe.org.uk/priceconcessions). To hear more on how the current price concessions system operates, pharmacy teams can watch a recording of our webinar here.
The post DHSCs April 2024 Price Concessions – 1st Update appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.