The cost of NHS prescriptions is due to rise from April.

Patients will now have to spend £8.80 on medicine and appliances, a 20p rise from £8.60.

Costs for wigs and fabric supports will also rise. A surgical bra will cost £28.85 instead of 28.40 and a spinal or abdominal support will cost £43.60 – up from £42.95.

Meanwhile, a partial human hair wig will cost £188.70, up from £185.80.

But the cost of pre-payment prescriptions for people with long term health issues will be frozen, at £29.10 for three months and £104 for a year.

Tory Health Minister Lord O'Shaughnessy announced: "We have increased the prescription charge by 20p from £8.60 to £8.80 for each medicine or appliance dispensed.

“In the 2015 spending review, the government committed to support the five-year forward view with £10billion investment in real terms by 2020 to 2021 to fund frontline NHS services.

"Alongside this, the government expects the NHS to deliver £22billion of efficiency savings to secure the best value from NHS resources and primary care must play its part.

"This year, therefore, we have increased the prescription charge by 20p from £8.60 to £8.80 for each medicine or appliance dispensed.

"To ensure that those with the greatest need, and who are not already exempt from the charge, are protected we have frozen the cost of the prescription prepayment certificates for another year.

"The three-month PPC remains at £29.10 and the cost of the annual PPC will stay at £104.

"Taken together, this means prescription charge income is expected to rise broadly in line with inflation."