Three hormone replacement therapy medicines have today been discontinued and removed from the list of medicines covered by the prescription prepayment certificate.

The NHS Business Services Authority, who publish an up-to-date list of HRT medicines covered by the PPC, said Bedol 2mg tablets, Climanor 5mg tablets and Clinorette tablets have been discontinued.

Community Pharmacy England said it has updated its HRT PPC list “to reflect the changes taking effect from August" and urged pharmacies to keep an eye on the NHSBSA’s list for updates.

“The list will be updated as new HRT medicines licensed for the treatment of menopause become available in the UK or as existing HRT medicines are discontinued from the UK market,” CPE said.

Pharmacy’s negotiator also said generic Medroxyprogesterone 5mg tablets will be removed from the HRT PPC list because it is no longer available as a licensed HRT medicine.

Shortly before the HRT PPC was introduced in April last year, CPE claimed the then Conservative government went ahead with it despite being advised in November 2022 to make all HRT medicines free-of-charge items which would have made the new system easier to implement and more cost-effective.

CPE, who said it was “fully supportive of the Government’s decision to make HRT medicines more accessible to women at a reduced cost,” warned the certificate could create difficulties for patients and increase pharmacies’ workload.