Has anyone here managed to get an NHS prescription for Armour Thyroid? If you have, how did you manage it and have you got any tips for trying to get it? Is it still possible?
I’ve tried everything else and Armour suits me the best but with the huge price increase I don't know how much longer I can pay for it myself.
Thanks.
waveylines may comment
It’s all but impossible to get on NHS
Thanks I've been having a look here: openprescribing.net to see if anywhere in the UK has prescribed Armour recently it says Cornwall and the Scilly Isles prescribed it for someone last year. Unfortunately this is nowhere near where I live, surprise surprise.
Unfortunately, increasingly those who had Armour prescribed on the NHS are now getting it de prescribed, so its almost certain that you wouldn't be able to get it prescribed on the NHS.
I recently had a look at Open Prescribing for Armour Thyroid in Kent and Medway, where I live, but just for 1 grain and 2 grain. The results were interesting, perhaps we should all move to East Sussex! Obviously not big numbers but I assume if a convincing case is presented the ICB will fund.
Sometimes these Armour prescriptions were started years ago. Getting it prescribed now is about impossible.
I know a patient who is prescribed Erfa on the NHS in Greater Manchester. The patient lives in the South East and is an out of area patient. If you have a supportive GP willing to refer or an Endocrinologist who knows where to refer in other areas who fund, anything is possible. The issue is finding knowledge and support. The other issue particularly in the South East that all the private endocrinologists readily prescribe Armour Thyroid and have healthy patient lists and their business would not thrive if the NHS funded routinely.
I haven’t explored funding for different NDT as I use Armour. I presume your specifically want Armour? My friend changed from self funded Armour to NHS Erfa with no problems at all.
On the contrary my comments were evidence based on interrogation of publicly available prescribing data in England. This data is published monthly.
OpenPrescribing.net, Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science, University of Oxford, 2025
Last year January to December 2024 the South East Commissioning area spent £328,249 on 466 items of Armour Thyroid
In contrast North East and Yorkshire Commissioning Area spent £208,757 funding 483 items of Armour Thyroid.
The information can be interrogated further to show which GP surgeries raise prescriptions for Armour Thyroid on a regular basis.
The data shows that there are 12 ICB’s currently funding Armour Thyroid for patients across England.
Therefore the data confirms that some funding is available on the NHS in England. It shows that a number of GP surgeries are outliers and are responsible for the majority of prescriptions.
Do interrogate the data yourself as I can assure it is not one or two people.
Just out of interest. Do you know how much the nhs is charged for to supply Armour?
I am sorry I don’t know, I don’t think this data set will give a cost per unit per strength.
I asked a pharmacist how much they charge the NHS for Erfa and he said £250 per 1grain pot
I wonder if that's a 100 tablet dispensing pot or just 1 month's worth?
100 tablets
Thanks for that.
So it can actually be cheaper than T3?
My daughter did have an NHS. Prescription for Armour , but it was cancelled a while ago and now has to purchase it privately.
Armour Thyroid
Armour Thyroid
Armour Thyroid
Cheapest place - Armour private prescription?
