Homeopathy slammed

NHS England has published detailed plans, drawn up with family doctors and pharmacists, to cut out prescriptions for ineffective, over-priced and low value treatments.

Aiming to trim hundreds of millions from the nation’s rapidly growing drugs bill, the NHS said this would create headroom to reinvest all savings in newer and more effective medicines and treatments.

A formal public consultation is being launched on new national guidelines which state that 18 treatments, including homeopathy and herbal treatments which together cost taxpayers £141m a year, should generally not be prescribed.

NHS England’s chief executive Simon Stevens described homeopathy as “at best a placebo and a misuse of scarce NHS funds”.

In addition the consultation also covers a further 3,200 prescription items, many of which are readily available and sold ‘over the counter’ in pharmacies, supermarkets, petrol stations, corner shops and other retailers, often at a significantly lower price than the cost to the NHS.

Also under fire are products for “minor self-limiting conditions” such as cough mixture and cold treatments, eye drops, laxatives and sun cream lotions, which currently cost £50-100m a year.

Stevens said, “The public rightly expects that the NHS will use every pound wisely, and today we’re taking practical action to free up funding to better spend on modern drugs and treatments.”