Patients in England will have to pay more for their NHS prescriptions from this month. Despite the cost of living crisis continuing to place pressure on household budgets – the Department of Health has confirmed it is increasing its charges. From May 1 the charge for each medicine or appliance dispensed will go up by 25p – from £9.65 to £9.90 – or an increase of 2.59%. Patients requiring multiple prescriptions over the course of a year are being encouraged to consider whether purchasing a pre-payment certificate – that covers the cost of prescriptions for a set amount of time and set price – w…