NHS to save cash with ban on herbal medicine and homeopathy

THE NHS has announced a ban on homeopathy and herbal medicine, saying they are a “misuse of scarce funds”.

Officials ruled that the treatments are among dozens of medicines which should not be funded by the health service. In the past five years, the NHS has spent almost £600,000 on homeopathic treatment, despite long-running debate about whether alternative remedies work.

Health officials said cash-strapped clinical commissioning groups should no longer fund such medicines, along with 16 other treatments classed as “low value” because they are ineffective or could easily be bought over the counter.

NHS England ruled that “at best homeopathy is a placebo and a misuse of scarce NHS funds which could be better devoted to treatments that work.”

Proponents of homeopathy and herbal medicine include Prince Charles, while Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, is among those who have signed motions in favour of it.

NHS England said the changes aimed to save at least £250million a year.

Patients will be told to pay for their own treatment for dozens of common ailments, including indigestion, sore throats and athlete’s foot. Simon Ste- vens, the NHS chief executive, said: “The NHS is probably the world’s most efficient health service, but like every country there is still waste and inefficiency that we’re determined to root out. 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.”

Health officials said the NHS is spending around £545million a year on treatments which are available over the counter, though they do not expect to recoup all the funding.

The consultation covers around 3,200 such prescription items.

Health officials said many of them were 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.

The products include cough mixture and cold treatments, eye drops, laxatives and sun cream lotions. NHS bodies will also be told not to pay for a number of specific treatments, such as omega 3 supplements, lidocaine plasters and fentanyl painkillers.

Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS medical director, said: “At a time when we need to find all the money we can for new, highly effective drugs we must ensure every pound is spent wisely.

“We need to end unnecessary expense to give us a bigger therapeutic bang for the NHS buck so we cut the fat and build the therapeutic muscle.”

Health officials said products on the list were “relatively ineffective, unnecessary, inappropriate or unsafe for prescription on the NHS”.

The Department of Health is also consulting on cutting back spending on gluten-free products.

Patients’ groups expressed some concern. Don Redding, director of policy at National Voices, said: “Whilst some treatments are available to purchase over-the-counter, that does not mean that everyone can afford them.

“There will be distinct categories of people who rely on NHS funding for prescriptions of remedies that are otherwise available over-the-counter.

“Stopping such prescriptions would break with the principle of an NHS ‘free at the point of use’ and would create a system where access to treatments is based on a person’s ability to pay.”