Who qualifies for ED treatment on the NHS?

Who qualifies for ED treatment on the NHS?
The NHS only supplies sildenafil for the treatment of ED unless it is associated with another condition, therefore you may have to pay for a private prescription.
Up until recently, medicines for erectile dysfunction (ED) could only be prescribed on the NHS for ED that was associated with a limited list of medical conditions.
However, in August 2014 the Department of Health changed prescribing restrictions to allow generic sildenafil to be prescribed by GPs on the NHS. This follows the expiry of the patent on Viagra, which has allowed other drug companies to manufacture unbranded, generic versions of the medicine for a much cheaper cost.
NHS treatment with other medicines for erectile dysfunction (including Viagra as the branded medicine) remains only available for men with a limited list of medical conditions, as follows:
diabetes kidney failure requiring dialysis kidney transplant multiple sclerosis Parkinson’s disease polio prostate cancer removal of the prostate gland (prostatectomy, including men who have had a transurethral resection of the prostate) radical pelvic surgery severe pelvic injury single-gene neurological conditions spinal cord injury spina bifida.
If ED is judged to cause you severe distress, you can also receive treatment on the NHS – although this will need to be assessed by a specialist.
Men who were already receiving NHS treatment for erectile dysfunction on 14 September 1998 can continue to receive it on the NHS.
All other men with erectile dysfunction who have treatment with medicines other than generic sildenafil (including Viagra) will need to be prescribed treatment by their GP on a private prescription.
Charges in Wales and Scotland.
Prescriptions in Wales and Scotland are free.
Do I have to pay for NHS prescriptions?
If you qualify for NHS treatment, you will still need to pay a prescription charge for each item on an NHS prescription, unless you fall into one of the groups that are exempt from payment. These include:
Good advice.
Men who have conditions that are exempt from charges should use form FP92A to apply for an exemption certificate.
The form is available from your GP, hospital or health authority.
If you have to pay prescription charges and need regular prescriptions or a lot of items you could save money with a pre-payment certificate. These are available for three month (£29.10) and 12 month (£104) periods. The 12 month certificates can be paid for by monthly direct debit. Anyone needing 13 or more prescription items a year will save money with a 12 month pre-payment certificate. You can apply online or by using form FP95 available from your pharmacy.
people aged 60 or over. people who receive, or have a partner who receives, income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, pension credit guarantee credit, or income-related employment and support allowance. people who have a continuing physical disability which means they cannot go out without help from another person. people who have conditions that are exempt from charges, eg diabetes that requires medication, epilepsy that needs continual treatment, myasthenia gravis, an underactive thyroid, parathyroid or pituitary gland, or a permanent fistula that requires continuous dressing or an appliance. people receiving treatment for cancer.
In England the NHS prescription charge is now £8.20 per item.
What is a private prescription?
A private prescription is not written on an official NHS prescription form and so not paid for by the NHS.
The cost of a private prescription is met wholly by the patient and is dictated by the cost of the medicine plus the pharmacist’s charge for supplying it.
Any registered doctor can provide a private prescription. However, your GP can only provide a private prescription if the drug is not available on the NHS. Unless you are prescribed generic sildenafil, the strict criteria for NHS treatment means your GP can only provide ED treatment as a private prescription. However they can’t charge you for doing so. If you see a doctor at a different practice or clinic, that doctor can make a charge for supplying you with the prescription. A doctor you see privately can’t issue an NHS prescription.
With private prescriptions, the same piece of paper can be re-used for subsequent treatment. For this to happen, the doctor has to endorse the prescription with the number of repeats he or she wishes to allow. The pharmacist then stamps the paper until the repeats have been used.
The blacklist.
The list of medicines that the NHS will not supply is called the blacklist. Generic sildenafil is no longer on the blacklist and can be supplied on the NHS. All other medicines for ED (including Viagra) are blacklisted, except in the medical cases above.
What will treatment cost on a private prescription?
The pharmacy will charge the full cost of the medicine you are prescribed, plus its dispensing fee. It is best to shop around, because the total cost of your prescription will vary between pharmacies.
As a rough guide to the differences between treatments, listed below are the basic costs of medicines before a dispensing charge is added.
Will the cost be covered by private medical insurance?
Private health insurance schemes do not generally pay for ED treatment. Check the small print of your policy first.
What if I don’t want to go to the pharmacy?
Once you get a prescription you can use online pharmacies, such as Allcures, Boots or Pharmacy2u, to get the medicines delivered to your door.
In the case of private prescriptions, this may prove cheaper than visiting a high-street chemist. You still need to see a doctor to get the prescription in the first place.
What about getting a prescription online?
There are now many sites that offer online ‘consultations’ in order to avoid the potential embarrassment of seeing a doctor in person. These usually involve completing a questionnaire so that a doctor can assess if it is appropriate and safe to prescribe and supply you a medicine.
If you decide to go down this route it is important that you are honest in your responses to the questions so that the doctor can make a safe assessment based on your answers about your medical history. You should also make sure that the website you use employs fully qualified, UK based doctors who are registered with the General Medical Council (GMC).
You should remember that in reality there is no substitute for visiting your GP, having a full physical examination to establish the cause of your erectile dysfunction, and then being able to discuss your treatment options.
You should steer clear of any websites you come across that offer to sell you medicines for ED without a prescription. This is illegal and unsafe, because you may have conditions that would make it dangerous for you to take these medicines, or be taking other medicines that could interact.
There is also no way of knowing what you are getting from these sites, since they are not regulated.
If you think you have ED, you should always visit your GP first off so you can be properly diagnosed and treated appropriately. It is not worth your health to do otherwise.
Last updated 13.04.2015.
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