Review requested into over-prescribing in the NHS

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock has ordered a review into overprescribing in the NHS to ensure that patients are receiving the most appropriate treatment for their needs.

To be led by Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Dr Keith Ridge, the review will look at the issue of ‘problematic polypharmacy’, whereby a patient is taking multiple medicines unnecessarily. Estimated total NHS spending on medicines in England has grown from £13 billion in 2010 to 2011 to £18.2 billion in 2017 to 2018, representing average growth of around five per cent a year.

With nearly half of over 75-year-olds surveyed were taking five or more medicines, the review will also look at creating a more efficient handover between primary and secondary care, improving management of non-reviewed repeat prescriptions, as well as the role of digital technologies in reducing overprescribing. This will create a better picture of overprescribing in their area to allow more targeted action, ultimately creating better personalised care for patients.

Hancock said: “Recent advances in medicine have led to fantastic developments in managing and treating certain conditions, but poorly managed prescribing can lead to serious issues for patients such as increased admissions to hospital or antibiotic resistance.

“As we invest an extra £20.5 billion a year into our NHS we want to empower doctors and pharmacists to use the data available to ensure patients get the medicines they need and stop taking those that no longer benefit them. We also need to back our GPs to move towards alternatives such as social prescribing, so we can offer more tailored healthcare that focuses on prevention to stop people from becoming ill in the first place – improving care and reducing the burden on the NHS.”

Keith Ridge, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer at NHS England, said: “Doctors, pharmacists and patients need to work together to ensure people are on the right medicines, for the right amount of time. NHS England’s recent successes in reducing unnecessary antibiotics and medicines with care homes and GP practices, on polypharmacy, and on beginning to end overmedication for people with learning disabilities, all show what can be – and indeed now is being – done on this important topic.”