09 Aug 2010
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has responded to the new NHS prescribing recommendations which have been published as part of a Government drive to achieve £20 billion savings in the health service by 2013. The National Prescribing Centre guidance, Key Therapeutic Topics 2010/11, asks GPs to revise prescribing ‘in the context of a challenging medium term financial position.’
Nanette Kerr, Director of Pharmacy at the National Pharmacy Association said:
“This guidance is useful but limited – it is all about what GPs do, not what patients do. The NHS should look through the other end of the telescope for the big wins. Real value for money can only be achieved if the NHS supports patients to get more benefit from their medicines.”
“The NPA is calling for early roll-out of a national medicines concordance scheme in pharmacies across England. A structured medicines support service, especially for people newly taking medication for long term conditions was promised by the Department of Health two years ago and is long overdue.”
“The least cost effective medicine is one that is used improperly or not used at all once supplied. It is estimated that up to half of all medicines are not taken as the prescriber intended. What is more, adverse drug reactions and poor compliance account for many emergency hospital admissions, which incur a significant financial cost.”
“Prescribed medicines now account for a considerable proportion of the NHS budget - there is no doubt that more value could be extracted from this investment by reducing medicines waste.”
A variety of community pharmacy-based interventions have been shown to improve medicines adherence and reduce waste. Most pharmacies in England and Wales now provide medicines use reviews, where you can sit down with your pharmacist for a free consultation on getting the most from your medicines.
