SSP for Estradot patches further extended

The Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) for Estradot patches have been further extended to Friday 17 April 2026, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced.

The affected products are Estradot 50micrograms/24hours patches (SSP079), Estradot 75micrograms/24hours patches (SSP080), Estradot 100micrograms/24hours patches (SSP081) and Estradot 25micrograms/24hours patches (SSP082).

All four SSPs were due to expire on 30 January 2026.

SSP079, SSP080 and SSP081 were first put in place on 19 December 2024 in response to ‘significant ongoing disruption’ to the supply of some strengths of Estradot patches. They have since been extended multiple times.

Supervising pharmacists must use their professional judgement to determine whether swapping the patient to a different brand of a patch would be suitable for the patient.

Estradot patches are a form of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for postmenopausal women. They contain a naturally occurring form of oestrogen which can provide relief from menopausal symptoms like hot flushes, and prevent osteoporosis.

In November 2025, two Estradot Conti transdermal patches were added to the list of HRT medicines covered by the NHS HRT prepayment certificate (HRT PPC).

And the prescribing of HRT in England has continued to climb, with 14.7 million items issued to an estimated 2.8 million patients during 2024/25, according to NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) data.