NHS Fife told it can make huge savings by adopting smarter medicine policy
More must be done to curb spiralling NHS spending on prescription drugs in Fife, health chiefs have been told.
- By Craig Smith
- Published in the Courier : 28.09.11
- Published online : 28.09.11 @ 01.09pm
It has emerged health services across the region could save up to £2 million this year alone by switching to cheaper alternatives.
Figures presented to NHS Fife's finances and resources committee on Tuesday underlined the urgent need to tackle the issue, revealing Fife is already almost £1.4 million overspent on its prescribing budget just five months into the financial year.
That is after NHS Fife was forced to manage a £3.4 million overspend in the same budget at the end of last year.
With that in mind, the region's health bosses have vowed to pursue measures aimed at bringing the prescribing budget under control, without affecting patient care.
Brian Montgomery, Fife health board's medical director, assured members of the public that a greater emphasis on cost would not pose a risk to people's health, adding that prescribing cheaper but equally effective treatments could generate massive savings.
''This has very much been a historical position and if you look at the way that Fife uses and prescribes drugs it probably doesn't use or prescribe any more. But some of the choices it makes tends to be more expensive than other boards,'' he said.
''As a result, we've put quite a lot of effort into making sure that the drugs we prescribe are less expensive but still appropriate and will still do the job well when we're plumping for these drugs.
''What we don't want this to be portrayed as is a purely money-saving exercise. When changing people's treatment we don't want to put them at any risk, so where a change is being proposed we would be confident that the new drug or alternative will work for them.
''In terms of the amount being spent, we're beginning to see Fife coming back down, and that's something we'll see continuing in the coming months and years.''
The issue has been thrown into focus by a new NHS Fife report which revealed Fife is spending more on certain drugs per item — much more in some cases — than the national average.
Out of 20 comparable drugs measured, 17 were at a higher cost per item in Fife than in the rest of Scotland. For example, co-codamol was said to have been costing Fife £7 per item, compared to the £5 national average.
The report by finance director Chris Bowring confirmed the reasons for the discrepancies are under review, but noted that Fife has historically focused on ''quality prescribing'', with cost effectiveness deemed to be ''a secondary consideration''.
With money tight, however, that emphasis is beginning to change and if NHS Fife moved to the same cost-per-item as the national average for the 20 drugs looked at alone, around £2 million could be slashed from the prescribing budget by the end of 2011/12.
Fife spent £74.8 million on prescribing and supplementary areas in 2010/11 — £3.4 million over the initial £71.4 million budget set aside at the start of the year.
Photo by Flickr user takacsi75.
07.52pm - 28.09.2011 BudIce - Edinburgh, UK Report This
Effective, safe and cost-effective prescribing must be given a higher priority. Medication safety in Scotland is falling behind England + Wales. It needs to be given as much priority as infections.
11.21am - 12.03.2012 D smart - Kirkcaldy, Fife Report This
It's about time for someone to expose nhs fife for wasting money that should be used for patients and working staff. There are approx 300 managers on over 50/60k per year that no one knows what they do ( not even them ) it seems to be if you are useless you get promoted out of the way where you can'
09.05pm - 30.04.2012 Jock Halley - Terrace Bc, Canada Report This
Why is everything over managed floor staffing levels are lower than 10yrs ago but we have 20 per cent more managers I blame the education system they push that everyone needs a degree then jump straight into management this has to change!
Add a comment