Final price concessions for May 2024 revealed

The changes come amidst concerns over government-imposed alterations aimed at managing purchase margins

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has revised concession prices for four products and confirmed three further price concessions for May 2024.

This announcement comes in response to representations made by Community Pharmacy England (CPE) on behalf of community pharmacy owners

Concession prices have been redetermined for Ezetimibe 10mg tablets, Quetiapine 100mg tablets, Quetiapine 150mg tablets and Quetiapine 200mg tablets.

Here are the revised prices:

• Ezetimibe 10mg tablets (28 tablets): £7.02 (previously £6.17)
• Quetiapine 100mg tablets (60 tablets): £3.25 (previously £2.27)
• Quetiapine 150mg tablets (60 tablets): £5.20 (previously £3.10)
• Quetiapine 200mg tablets (60 tablets): £5.49 (previously £5.20)

Additional price concessions have been issued for Nicorandil 10mg tablets, Nicorandil 20mg tablets, and Pregabalin 75mg capsules.

Here are the newly granted concessions:

• Nicorandil 10mg tablets (60 tablets): £5.05
• Nicorandil 20mg tablets (60 tablets): £9.30
• Pregabalin 75mg capsules (56 capsules): £1.54

The revised prices will be applicable to prescriptions submitted for payment during the dispensing month of May 2024, and do not apply to June 2024 prescriptions, the CPE noted.

The move follows DHSC's recent decision to impose changes to concession pricing starting from April 2024, aimed at managing purchase margins.

In the April 2024 Drug Tariff, the department announced its decision to manage retained buying margin by limiting concessionary prices. From April to June 2024, DHSC aims to recover approximately £5.4m per month from the community pharmacy sector by squeezing price concessions.

The CPE strongly opposed these “untested” changes, which were imposed by the government without their agreement.

It has been warning 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.