Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has expressed concern about the addition of further medicines to Category H from September, a new part of the Drug Tariff introduced this year.
An additional eight multi-source products will move from Category C to Category H next month, joining the 11 products that have been in the category since March 2026.
Speaking on its website, CPE said it will “continue to monitor the impact of any changes following the move to Category H,” and estimates that 100 products could ultimately meet DHSE criteria for recategorising from Category C.
Drugs are being added to Category H in a phased approach.
Category H was imposed by DHSC in March, added to Part VIIIA of the Drug Tariff. Reimbursement prices in the category are decided based on actual purchase, sales and volume data obtained by DHSC quarterly, under the Health Service Products (Provision and Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2018.
Prices are updated quarterly in March, June, September and December. Manufacturer and wholesaler sales data are combined using a weighted average approach based on their share of total volumes.
For drugs available as both a generic and branded product, DHSC will continue to consider if the generic should enter Category A or Category M, and if not, will assess for Category H.
CPE has said: “We understand DHSC’s ambition is to move all eligible multi-source Category C products to Category H, in a phased approach.
“Currently, over 100 products in Category C appear to meet DHSC’s entry criteria for Category H. We have urged DHSC to take a cautious approach with moving these to Category H.”
The eight products moving across to Category H from September are:
- Alfuzosin 10mg modified-release tablets (30)
- Diclofenac 100mg suppositories (10)
- Felodipine 10mg modified-release tablets (28)
- Felodipine 2.5mg modified-release tablets (28)
- Felodipine 5mg modified-release tablets (28)
- Fluticasone furoate 27.5micrograms/dose nasal spray (120 doses)
- Nicotine 7mg/24hours transdermal patches (7)
- Sodium fluoride 0.05% mouthwash sugar free (250ml)
In a briefing in February, CPE said that all drugs in Part VIII including those listed in Category H are eligible for price concessions.
“We encourage pharmacies to report any problems obtaining a Part VIII product at or below the stated Drug Tariff price, using the online feedback form on the Community Pharmacy England’s Price Concessions webpage.”
However, CPE also commented that they concerned that the change might add price ‘volatility’ to the sector, by bringing more drugs into the price concession process.
“Community Pharmacy England is concerned that the new price-setting arrangements will introduce price volatility and potentially draw more drugs into the price concession process, cause more supply disruptions and increase the risk of dispensing certain branded products at a loss, where the impact on individual businesses could be notable depending on their dispensing mix.”
In the CPE’s February briefing, DHSC was quoted as saying: “…should these quarterly adjustments not be responsive enough, there are still the two mitigations of concessionary prices and retrospective medicine margin inquiry to ensure contractors are paid fairly and do not dispense at a loss.”
Out-of-pocket claims can be made for Category H drugs.
