NHS England to review low value prescription medicines

NHS England has announced it will be leading a review of low value prescription items from April 2017 and introducing new guidance for Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), in a bid to save NHS expenditure.

The review will seek to address the growing concern over the justification for many low value prescriptions, which the body claims, could be spent on care which has a bigger impact on improving outcomes for patients.

According to a statement, NHS England plans to work with clinicians and clinical commissioning groups to develop guidelines around a set of 10 medicines which are ineffective, unnecessary, inappropriate for prescription on the NHS, or indeed unsafe.

The regulator cited that these items, which include treatment for coughs and colds, antihistamines, indigestion and heartburn medication and suncream, cost the NHS a total of £128 million annually.

An spokesperson for NHS England commented: “New guidelines will advise CCGs on the commissioning of medicines generally assessed as low priority and will provide support to clinical commissioning groups, prescribers and dispensers.

“The increasing demand for prescriptions for medication that can be bought over the counter at relatively low cost, often for self-limiting or minor conditions, underlines the need for all healthcare professionals to work even closer with patients to ensure the best possible value from NHS resources, whilst eliminating wastage and improving patient outcomes.”