NHS GPs’ £300 Million Drug Waste
IN bathrooms across the land, lurking at the back of the cabinet, will be at least one half-used bottle of tablets, years past its use-by-date. Add up all those unused medicines and you have a mountain of medication, and a huge waste of money.
According to a new report by the National Audit Office, Britain’s GPs are wasting over £300 million by prescribing expensive branded drugs to patients or drugs that are never used.
The NAO accuses some doctors of allowing their NHS patients with long-term conditions to build up huge stockpiles of medicines while many patients were either failing to collect drugs from their pharmacy or not bothering to take them when they got home.
More than £8 billion was spent on medicines by the NHS in 2006, equivalent to £22 million a day. And in the last ten years, the primary drugs bill has shot up by 60%.
The report also found that, in relation to the prescribing of more expensive branded drugs, two-thirds of the GPs surveyed blamed local prescribing advisors rather than marketing from the pharmaceutical industry for influencing their choice of medicine.
The other third were too busy out on the golf course. Or in private practice…
Posted: 18th, May 2007 | In: Money Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
