Free prescriptions

If you are registered with a GP in Wales you are entitled to free prescriptions from a pharmacist in Wales.

If you live in Wales but are registered with a GP in England you will be issued with an entitlement card. This allows a prescription issued in England to be dispensed at a pharmacy in Wales for free.

You will need to show your entitlement card at the pharmacy each time you give them a prescription. You may be charged if you don’t have a card.

You should receive your entitlement card automatically. To apply for a refund of charges or if you have any queries about your entitlement card, please contact the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership.

If you have certain conditions you may be entitled to Medical Exemption Certificate. This entitles you to free prescriptions anywhere in the UK.

 You can get a Medical Exemption Certificate if you have one of the following:

• a permanent fistula (for example, caecostomy, colostomy, laryngostomy or ileostomy) requiring continuous surgical dressing or requiring an appliance
• a form of hypoadrenalism (for example, Addison's Disease) for which specific substitution therapy is essential
• diabetes insipidus and other forms of hypopituitarism
• diabetes mellitus except where treatment is by diet alone
• hypoparathyroidism
• myasthenia gravis
• myxoedema
• cancer, the effects of cancer or the effects of cancer treatment
• epilepsy requiring continuous anti-convulsive therapy 
• a continuing physical disability which means you cannot go out without the help of another person

To apply for a Medical Exemption Certificate ask your doctor for form WP92A (Wales). The form tells you what to do. Your exemption certificate will be posted to you.  

Medical Exemption Certificates normally last for five years and then need to be renewed.