The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
NHS Tayside counts the cost as bill for prescriptions rises 2.5%
Cash-strapped board spent £262.78 per head of population on medicines – the third highest total in the country and a 25.2% increase on a decade ago
Cash-strapped NHS Tayside has vowed to curb prescription costs after new figures revealed the region has the third highest bill for medicines per head in the country.
The health board spent £262.78 per head on prescriptions in 2017-18, higher than anywhere else in Scotland bar NHS Ayrshire and Arran (£269.75) and NHS Greater Glasgow (£271.30).
For Tayside, this was a 2.5% increase on the cost per person in 2016-17 and a 25.2% rise in costs in 2008-09.
Across Scotland, the total bill for prescriptions for 2017-18 was £1.3 billion, which is 25.7% more expensive than 10 years ago.
NHS Tayside spends around £140 million a year on prescribing.
Two of the most commonlyprescribed drugs were paracetamol and aspirin.
Figures released in April revealed NHS Tayside spends more than £1m a year on these drugs and has axed one-off prescriptions of these medicines to cut costs.
NHS Tayside associate director of pharmacy David Coulson said: “NHS Tayside and the three Health and Social Care Partnerships have been working hard to tackle prescribing costs across Tayside.
“A comprehensive prescribing management programme is in place that has been delivering demonstrable improvements over the last 12 months.
“For example, in 2017-18 NHS Tayside saw a 0.14% reduction in the number of items prescribed compared to a 0.54% increase across Scotland.”
The health board also wants to cut down on the number of items that are prescribed but not used, which is costing it approximately £1.4m a year.
Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said: “Under this SNP Government we have seen the total mismanagement of our health service, with GP practices and wards across Scotland suffering.”
Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: “As more Scots continue to live longer, prescription costs are almost bound to rise due to more people living with long-term conditions that require treatment.
“This presents challenges not only for prescriptions but for a range of other services such as social care and GP practices.
“The SNP government is not rising to meet these challenges currently.”
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman, said: “The increase in costs for drugs dispensed in the community is in line with anticipated trend and reflects the fact more patients are being treated closer to home with specialist medicines traditionally reserved for hospital.”