The Caring Hair Boutique

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Speak to your nurse or consultant about your referral letter and details of your local supplier.

It may be that you will qualify for help towards costs of a wig from the NHS because your hair loss is due to a side effect of medical treatment. If so you will normally be limited to using a supplier that is recommended by your local NHS authority. These are suppliers who have the contract agreement with the NHS to supply you a wig. You will normally receive a referral letter which will tell you the details of agreed suppliers.

Most NHS wig suppliers will offer you a range which you may chose from that is covered by your NHS prescription. You may have to pay a prescription charge normally £60.00 - but the rest is funded by the NHS. They will normally also have other ranges which are not available within your prescription and so need to be paid in full privately.

Alternatively if you are happy to pay in full there is nothing to stop you from buying a wig from any supplier you wish. You may decide to do this if you don’t like the options offered to you by the NHS supplier, if you want a real hair wig, or if you decide to go elsewhere.

The good thing about your local supplier is that they will have a vast experience of helping people dealing with cancer with wig choices.

To understand more about NHS funding read below:

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Who qualifies for a NHS funded wig?
The NHS may be able to offer you help towards the full or partial costs of a wig. The NHS only funds “Synthetic (acrylic) wigs” unless you are allergic to these. In other words if you prefer a human hair wig then you would need to fund this in full privately.

If NHS funded then most wig suppliers will offer you a range which you may chose from that is covered by your NHS prescription. They will normally also have other ranges which are not available within your prescription and so need to be paid in full privately.

Many people ask why wig suppliers won’t allow them to use their wig prescription to purchase a wig that is not within the NHS prescription range. Unfortunately the wig suppliers have a limited resource and strict regulations and so can’t offer a top up system. In other words you need to choose a wig from the NHS covered range or pay in full yourself.

Remember to ask your nurse or contact the NHS to find out what you are entitled to.

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Free wigs
If you quality for full payment of prescription charges from the NHS, you may be entitled to a new wig every 6 months.

Briefly, you may be covered in full for the cost if:

• You are staying in hospital as an inpatient and you are in hospital when the wig is supplied

• You or your partner are claiming particular benefits such as income support

• You have an NHS tax credit exemption certificate

• You are named on a HC2 certificate

• You are under 16 years of age or aged between 16 – 19 and in full time education

• The NHS will only fund a synthetic wig unless you have an allergy

If you do not qualify for full costs you may be given an NHS prescription and will need to make a "part payment" – see below

Other suggestions - Non NHS
• Ask your Macmillan nurse for help with financial support
• Talk to your medical team and make sure you are receiving what you are entitled to within the NHS

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Part payment
• NHS prescription (This means that you will pay a prescription charge – around £60.00) You will be entitled to a new wig every 6 months.

• Your consultant will give you a prescription normally in the form of a referral letter. You may then be asked to take this to another department such as “Surgical appliances” who will send you a letter with details directing you to the local supplier/s who offer a NHS prescription service.

• You will normally need to book an appointment with the wig supplier.Commonly  to visit the wig shop or the wig fitter may offer a service at the local hospital.

• You will need to pay a prescription charge which is normally around £60.00, the remaining cost of the wig is covered by the NHS

• There is normally a range of wigs offered to you that are available within the budget of your NHS prescription. This means that most suppliers will also have a range that are not covered by prescription and would require you to pay a full private payment

• You will normally be directed to a particular supplier/s that hold the NHS contact in your area. If you wanted to go else where you would need to pay in full

• The NHS will only fund a synthetic wig unless you have an allergy