Tuesday, 19 Nov 2024

Nearly £70m spent a year on banned ‘harmful’ drugs as GPs issue 10k prescriptions daily

NHS staff 'should wear badge if unvaccinated' says Alibhai-Brown

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Almost £70 million was spent on drugs deemed “harmful” such as painkillers and unproven homoeopathic remedies, an investigation by the Telegraph has found. Michael Marshall, the Project Director of the Good Thinking Society, a pro-science charity, said the spending was “a tremendous waste”.

He said: “Every penny that is spent on treatments that have been shown to be of no benefit is money that could have been spent providing treatments that actually work.”

Five years ago NHS England drew up a list of banned medicines and GPs were told to stop prescribing medicines on the list.

NHS authorities were told that requests for the prescribed medicines would no longer be funded.

However, new data has shown that 3.65 million prescriptions for banned medicines were processed last year.

This included herbal remedies such as dog rose and lavender oil.

This means that 10,000 prescriptions a day were given out for medicine which is supposed to be banned.

As the guidance is advisory rather than being law GPs are able to use their “clinical discretion” to disregard it.

Prof David Colquhoun, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology at University College London, told the Telegraph it was “shocking” that the NHS was still spending large amounts of money on “quackery 

Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, told the Telegraph it was vital to avoid the use of “blanket bans”.

He said: “It is vitally important that GPs continue to be able to make decisions based on their expert training and experience.

“In the best interests of individual patients.”

A spokesman from NHS England said they were working to ensure such wastage was reduced. 

DON’T MISS:  
Sir Tom row explodes as probe launched into charity’s £162k payments [REVEAL] 
Headteacher drove to hotel to confront ‘teacher in bed with pupil’ [INSIGHT] 
Woman fined 22 times for parking at home [SPOTLIGHT] 

He said: “The national overprescribing review sets out a series of practical and cultural changes to ensure patients are receiving the most appropriate treatment for their needs and that public money is spent wisely.

“And we are working with GPs, pharmacists and others to implement and embed these improvements.”

Source: Read Full Article

Related Posts