London is one of the highest prescribers of HRT for menopause

The number of women using hormone replacement therapy to treat symptoms of menopause has been growing. According to government statistics, about 15% of women aged 45 to 64 were prescribed this treatment in 2023 - in 2021, that percentage was significantly smaller at around 11%.

The online pharmacy Click Pharmacy has published new research that investigates which NHS local ICBs in England prescribe the most HRT medicine - and four ICBs in London were in the top ten.

Click Pharmacy used official statistics to find out the number of prescriptions made in June this year for several different types of HRT: combined continuous HRT, oestrogen-only treatments, and tibolone which works differently.

Looking at all these types of treatments together, NHS South East London was the fifth biggest prescriber, issuing 4525 prescriptions in the month of June. It was followed by NHS North West London, where doctors made out 3951 prescriptions. In ninth place, doctors in NHS South West London issued 3467 prescriptions for HRT - and in tenth place, NHS North East London doctors made out 3122 prescriptions.

All but two of the top prescribers were in the South of England, with NHS Kent and Medway at the top issuing 7051 prescriptions for HRT this June.

Jana Abelovska, Superintendent Pharmacist at Click Pharmacy, comments:

“Menopause is a normal part of life, but many women find the symptoms very hard to cope with. It can have a significant impact on women’s mental health, because it affects your mood, your sleep and in some cases, your concentration and memory. It’s not surprising that HRT is becoming more popular as women look to treat these symptoms, as well as physical symptoms including hot flushes, muscle aches and joint pain.

“In our study, we were surprised to find that so many more women in the South of England are accessing HRT, compared to women in the North and Midlands.”