The Times reporting HRT to be available over the counter

[Livelifeinthebuslane]

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d0fb33e2-83bf-11ec-b939-57ea9f594ba1?shareToken=3deb53c114bae686f655c0e7f6915a2e

I'm not convinced this is a good thing, women need proper advice and support, not just sending to the chemist for something that may or may not work for us. Comments so far under the article seem to reflect that too.

That's really interesting. (I can't see comments as maybe that's because of the paywall?)

In some ways, it would bring England in line with other European countries where it can be bought OTC.

It would also correspond to some types of birth control Pills and morning-after pills being already available OTC.

However this issue with HRT is that there are many types and different doses, so most women would need a consultation with a menopause dr to start them off. I wonder if the OTC options would be very limited, or if it would apply to all types of HRT?

There would have to be education around it so that women who had some risk factors, like previous stroke/heart attacks/ cancer could know if it was safe for them. Obviously this would be on the info leaflet in the HRT but not everyone reads those!

Being cynical, I wonder if this is a way of getting women to pay for their HRT rather than it being free (without a prescription charge?)

I think your last sentence is sadly spot on.

Though looks like it's a bit of a non-story as seems it's just going to be one very specific thing, not HRT in general.

Being cynical, I wonder if this is a way of getting women to pay for their HRT rather than it being free (without a prescription charge?

HRT wasn't free anyway (unless the patient met the free prescription criteria) and some for some HRT types there was a double nhs prescription charge because of two different types of tablets in the box!

I've read the article. It's actually saying that only the types of topical HRT used to treat vaginal symptoms could be made available OTC. The title of the article is misleading.

It does quote Dr Louise Newsom as saying 80% of women have symptoms but only 8% seek treatment. If this move can make treatment more accessible then it's a good thing.

The article also says that women will need to have a consultation with the pharmacist before it is dispensed.

I read the same story in the Mail, which was also very badly written and reported. Really shows up the ignorance round this whole topic.

@DramaAlpaca

I've read the article. It's actually saying that only the types of topical HRT used to treat vaginal symptoms could be made available OTC. The title of the article is misleading.

It does quote Dr Louise Newsom as saying 80% of women have symptoms but only 8% seek treatment. If this move can make treatment more accessible then it's a good thing.

The article also says that women will need to have a consultation with the pharmacist before it is dispensed.

The Times article doesn't say this, I think more information came out during the day. The wording of the article I seems to relate to more general HRT symptoms.

I agree with @Livelifeinthebuslane.
I have the hard copy of The Times and it's clearly about systemic HRT.
Two MPs are quoted - suffering from menopausal symptoms- and how HRT changed that.

The detail is that pharmacists will be trained to ask women questions and may have access to their medical records, to ascertain any contraindications.

This new initiative is part of the Women's Health Strategy. In early January the British Menopause Society published their own report on what was needed to make life better for women and they are working alongside the Dept for Health. (I linked to the report in a previous thread.)

As a by the way, menopause specialists are concerned that vaginal estrogen is labelled as HRT.

This may be something that has to change too.

They prefer it to be called topical vaginal estrogen. It's not HRT as it's not absorbed like systemic HRT.

They are also trying to get the manufacturers to remove the leaflet in topical estrogen, which is exactly the same one in systemic HRT, because it is inappropriate.

JinglingHellsBells It mainly affects middle aged women, so whatever, the detail's not really that important....

@JinglingHellsBells

As a by the way, menopause specialists are concerned that vaginal estrogen is labelled as HRT.

This may be something that has to change too.

They prefer it to be called topical vaginal estrogen. It's not HRT as it's not absorbed like systemic HRT.

They are also trying to get the manufacturers to remove the leaflet in topical estrogen, which is exactly the same one in systemic HRT, because it is inappropriate.

That's very interesting - thank you.

Seeing as my g.p surgery won't prescribe this til i'm 45 this is great news for me. 41 with thinning hair mood swings etc that were never an issue before and ive to put up with it? Brilliant thanks will be buying and not waiting.

Ah OK, @Livelifeinthebuslane I must have mixed up article in The Times with the one I read later - BBC maybe? Sorry for the confusion, I did read both!

No worries @DramaAlpaca - I had a bit of a crisis of confidence that I hadn't read it properly 😁. It was v early in the morning, it was only later that it seemed to emerge that it was limited and it wasn't such a big story!

I received a press notification from a pharmacist which suggests that women may still need to see their GP to find the right HRT for them (first?) before going to buy it from a pharmacy.

Clearly, it's early days before this is thrashed out in detail.

I can't see every type of HRT ever being available OTC. I assume there will be one type of continuous and one type of sequential (perhaps.)

Who knows?

I'm not comfortable personally with the concept because I feel it's something that GPs don't do well and it's better in the hands of specialists who know a lot more about it.