No more hayfever tablets or sun cream on prescription
FAMILY doctors have been told to stop prescribing hayfever pills, heartburn remedies and sun cream to save the NHS £100million every year.
Prescriptions for 40 medications that can be bought in chemists and supermarkets are being slashed.
The treatments also include painkillers, cold remedies, mouth ulcer gel, headlice treatment and anti-dandruff shampoo.
Fresh guidelines were announced by NHS England yesterday following a three-month consultation with experts and the public.
Chief executive Simon Stevens said the savings made would be re-invested to improve care in A&E and fund new cancer drugs. But charities and doctors fear the measures will be unfair to poorer patients and those with long-term conditions.
The British Medical Association urged GPs to continue prescribing the medicines if they felt patients needed them.
NHS England said savings of almost £100million a year could be made, including the £4.5million spent on dandruff shampoos, £7.5million treating indigestion and heartburn and £5.5million on mouth ulcers.
Mr Stevens said: ‘ Across the NHS our aim is to think like a patient, act like a taxpayer. The NHS is probably the most efficient health service in the world, but we’re determined to keep pushing further.
‘Every pound we save from cutting waste is another pound we can then invest in better accident and emergency care, new cancer treatments and much better mental health services.’
Dr Graham Jackson, co- chairman of NHS Clinical Commissioners, which represents the groups that plan healthcare services in each area, said: ‘Unfortunately the NHS does not have unlimited resources and ensuring patients get the best possible care against a backdrop of spiralling demands, competing priorities and increasing financial pressures is one of the biggest issues Clinical Commissioning Groups face.
‘It is not good use of the NHS’s limited resources to issue prescriptions for products which are not clinically effective, or for conditions that will get better without treatment or whose symptoms can be managed with appropriate self-care.’
Mr Stevens announced the plan last year during an interview with the Daily Mail.
A public consultation began in December and the final guidelines came out yesterday.
They instruct GPs to not routinely issue medications for 37 different illnesses and conditions ranging from coughs and colds to pain to sunburn.
Initially, NHS England said the measures would save the Health Service £138million each year, however, this amount has since been lowered to £100million.
But Matina Loizou, of the charity Parkinson’s UK, said the plan was unfair to patients with Parkinson’s and long-term conditions who are in chronic pain.
She said the overall saving for the NHS as a result of these changes would be merely a drop in the ocean. Miss Loizou added: ‘The list is arbitrary and leaves people with long-term conditions like Parkinson’s having to choose between eating and picking up
‘Not good use of limited resources’
their prescription.’ Sandra Gidley, of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: ‘The implementation might disadvantage patients on low incomes and people may be denied treatment because of their inability to pay.’
Dr Andrew Green, of the British Medical Association, said: ‘It is already a basic part of a GP’s job to help patients care for their own minor illnesses, and to explain the availability and proper use of overthe-counter preparations.
‘GPs must treat patients according to their circumstances, and that includes issuing prescriptions where there are reasons why selfcare is inappropriate.’