What you pay as an NHS hospital patient in England

The rule behind hospital charges

The NHS Constitution for England gives you the right to receive NHS services free of charge, apart from limited exceptions sanctioned by Parliament. In a hospital those exceptions are few: medicines and appliances taken home by outpatients, wigs and fabric supports for people outside the exempt groups, and some dental work. Parking, bedside entertainment and phone calls are not NHS treatment, so trusts and their contractors set those prices.

Free when you are an inpatient

Leaflet HC11 lists three things as free while you stay in an NHS hospital:

• all NHS treatment
• NHS wigs and fabric supports supplied while you are in hospital
• medicines given to you as an inpatient to take home when you leave

The NHS website prescription charges page confirms medicines prescribed for hospital inpatients are always free. Meals come with the stay. Dorset County Hospital states its catering team provides three meals a day plus drinks and snacks to every inpatient, and Guy's and St Thomas' lists breakfast, lunch, dinner, hot and cold drinks and snacks for patients.

Free and charged as an outpatient or day patient

The position changes once you go home the same day. HC11 sets it out:

Items always free for everyone, such as contraception, stay free. Patients of the Hospital Eye Service may get help with glasses or contact lenses. If you collect several take-home items through a course of outpatient treatment, check whether you qualify for free prescriptions or whether a prepayment certificate at £114.50 for 12 months would cost less.

Wigs and fabric supports

Fabric supports means spinal or abdominal supports and surgical bras supplied through a hospital. Outside a hospital stay, HC11 sets these charges:

You get them free if you are a hospital inpatient, under 16, aged 16 to 18 in qualifying full-time education, named on an HC2 certificate, or getting Pension Credit Guarantee Credit or Universal Credit within the earnings limits. The Universal Credit test is net earnings of £435 or less in the latest assessment period, or £935 with a child element or limited capability for work. War Pension and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme exemption certificate holders get them free when the item is for the accepted disability. With an HC3 certificate you pay the amount on the certificate or the actual charge, whichever is lower.

The saving can be large. A patient who needs a full made-to-order human hair wig and qualifies through an HC2 avoids the £310.55 charge. Someone entitled to free supplies who paid £80.15 for a stock wig and £32.50 for a surgical bra recovers £112.65 with a claim made in time.

Claiming a wig or fabric support refund

1. When you pay, ask the hospital or supplier for a receipt showing an NHS charge was paid.
2. Get form HC5(W) from the NHSBSA website or ask the supplier for a copy.
3. Use a separate form for each person who paid.
4. Send the original receipts. The NHSBSA cannot process the claim without them.
5. Post the form. Low income claims go to NHS Business Services Authority, Bridge House, 152 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6SN. War Pension and Armed Forces claims go to the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency, Norcross, Blackpool FY5 3WP.
6. Make sure it arrives within 3 months of the date you paid. After that the NHSBSA decides whether to accept a late claim.

The same 3-month rule applies to the other refund forms, covered in the prescription refund guide.

Bedside TV, phone and internet

Bedside entertainment is a separate service with its own prices, run at Wythenshawe and at Norfolk and Norwich by the contractor Hospedia. Three published examples:

• Wythenshawe Hospital: channels 1 to 5 free from 8am to 12 noon, all channels free on children's wards from 7am to 7pm, free calls to numbers beginning 01, 02 and 03, calls to mobiles 25p a minute, incoming calls 50p a minute, packages from £5 a day.
• Guy's and St Thomas': some channels free from 6am to midday, free calls to UK landlines, mobile calls free for 2 minutes with unlimited call-backs, callers to the bedside phone pay 13p a minute plus network charges. Free NHS Wi-Fi is available, though not for streaming video or making voice or video calls.
• Norfolk and Norwich: radio always free, free terrestrial TV in dayrooms, outgoing calls 10p a minute, callers pay 49p a minute at peak times and 39p off-peak.

A week of £5 daily packages comes to £35. The free morning hours and dayroom TV cut the bill. At Guy's and St Thomas' a call to the bedside phone costs the caller, and at Norfolk and Norwich incoming calls are free for the patient.

Parking and travel

English trusts may charge for parking, with free parking for set groups such as Blue Badge holders and frequent outpatients. The hospital parking guide sets out the groups. Travel to the hospital is refundable for people on qualifying benefits or with an HC2 or HC3 through the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Leaflet HC11 covers England only, and the charges on this page are English ones. Nidirect states all prescriptions dispensed in Northern Ireland are free of charge for everyone, including medication, wigs and surgical appliances. For Scotland and Wales, the NHS charges by nation guide compares prescription, dental and eye care charges.

Mistakes that cost money

Paying for a wig without asking for the NHS receipt. Without it there is no HC5(W) claim.

Assuming outpatient medicines are free because inpatient ones are. The £9.90 item charge applies to take-home supplies for outpatients in England unless you are exempt.

Buying a daily TV package from 8am when free channels run until noon on some wards.

Where the figures come from

The inpatient and outpatient rules, the definition of fabric supports, the wig and support charges, the free groups, the HC3 rule and the support stockings and tights prices are from leaflet HC11, April 2026. The £9.90 charge and the free inpatient medicines rule are also on the NHS website prescription charges page. The free-of-charge right is from the NHS Constitution. Meals are from Dorset County Hospital and Guy's and St Thomas'. The HC5(W) process, addresses and time limit are from form HC5(W), June 2025, and the NHSBSA apply for a refund page. Bedside TV and phone prices are from Wythenshawe Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals. The Northern Ireland position is from nidirect. The £114.50 prepayment certificate price is from leaflet HC11.