A £50,000 funding injection is to be used in a bid to shake off Angus’s prescribing sick man of Scotland tag.
The pot of cash was signed off following shock data which revealed that a staggering £294,000 was spent on paracetamol and ibuprofen in 2017.
At the end of 2017, average Angus costs were 14% above the national average – an additional budgetary burden of around £21m.
The significant costs associated with prescribing paracetamol and ibuprofen are to be the first strand of the public engagement strategy aimed at getting local residents to think about the part they can play in helping tackle the problem.
A proposed monthly programme of media releases, and presence at public events throughout the year, will be key to highlighting the scale of savings required elsewhere to manage prescribing overspends locally.
Angus Health and Social Care Partnership (AHSCP) chief officer Vicky Irons said: “Between January and December 2017, Angus spent £230,798 on paracetamol and £63,310 on ibuprofen alone.
“From June onward we wish to promote the scale of medicines waste in Angus and we are in discussion re: measuring and publicly sharing the volumes of medicines returned unused to community pharmacies in Angus, the reasons for the waste, and actions people can take to support us to reduce.
“Focus groups are planned to discuss with people receiving regular prescriptions how current systems could be improved upon to support safer prescribing and reduce wastage.”
The chief officer added that Angus Integrated Joint Board (IJB) remains a significant outlier, both in Tayside and Scotland, regarding prescribing costs per weighted population.
She said: “At the end of 2017, average Angus costs per weighted population were around 14% above the national average. The relative position in Angus did continue to weaken compared with other parts of Scotland during 2017/18.”
The report said some of the Angus bill could be explained by the disproportionate local impact of national pricing effects, citing Angus use of some short-supply mental health drugs as an example, but the area’s continued position so far above the national average was said to be a reflection of “the challenges of translating a comprehensive prescribing action plan into sustainable financial improvement”.
Speaking after the meeting, Arbroath East and Lunan Conservative councillor Derek Wann said: “I agreed to the request for funding of £50,000 to support local initiatives to address the prescribing overspends – however I will be seeking assurances that this money will be well spent and efforts to reduce the spending on prescribing are reported back regularly.
“I think we need to examine what previous initiatives have taken place, as this is not a new issue.
“It is extremely important that this spend is brought back into line with budget as it not only effects the Angus Integrated Joint Board budget, but also that of the NHS Tayside and possibly Angus Council.”
