Guidance to free up to almost £100 million for frontline care each year by curbing prescriptions for over-the-counter (OTC) medicines has been published by NHS England.

The curb includes products for self-limiting conditions that do not require any medical advice or treatment as they will clear up on their own, such as sore throats, coughs and colds, as well as those for conditions that are suitable for self care and can be treated with OTC products, such as indigestion, mouth ulcers and warts and verrucae.

Commenting on the guidance, Helga Mangion, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) policy manager, said: “It establishes the worrying principle that it is fair for the NHS to remove a treatment that could be given to our most needy for free, just because that treatment is available privately. The reality is doctors will not prescribe an item that is available over the counter for a lower cost, unless there is a clinical need, and this guidance merely exacerbates the UK’s growing health inequalities.”