News / Better prescribing releases 400m

The NHS in England has saved almost £400m in 2008 by more cost-effective prescribing of drugs for four common conditions, according to the National Audit Office.

In Prescribing costs in primary care, published two years ago, the NAO predicted primary care trusts could save more than £200m a year, without compromising patient care, if GPs prescribed cheaper generic medicines in four therapeutic areas.

To follow up that report the auditors commissioned Keele University to calculate the actual savings PCTs had achieved. It found PCTs had saved £394m in 2008 through more consistent use of generics for common conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and gastric problems.

The largest savings were made on statins, where £277m was saved in 2008.

Norfolk PCT made the biggest saving of any individual organisation (£7.8m), while PCTs in the North West had the highest collective figure (more than £70m).

However, the NAO said the magnitude of savings was likely to be a reflection of the baseline prescribing position in each PCT. 

‘These findings demonstrate the extent to which GPs choosing to prescribe cheaper but just as clinically effective generic medicines can lead to real savings for the NHS,’ said NAO assistant auditor general Michael Whitehouse.

‘This is all the more important as the NHS’s spending on medicines continues to rise year on year, as the UK’s population ages and more and better treatments become available.’

The NAO said that the savings could not have been the result

of price reductions because the 2008 savings had been calculated by taking away predicted spend (based on 2008 prices) from actual spend.