The Guardian

Crackdown on doctors overprescribing drugs

Andrew Gregory Health editor

Ministers have ordered a crackdown on overprescribing of medicines after a review found one in 10 drugs dispensed by GPs and pharmacists are pointless and potentially harmful.

Family doctors will be told to boost the use of social prescribing, such as gardening, walking or volunteering. They are also being urged to call millions of patients in for medication reviews to see whether there are any pills they can stop taking.

The review, ordered by the government in 2018 and

Review finds 10% of drugs dispensed by doctors are pointless

published today, concludes that overprescribing is a “serious problem”. As many as 110m medicines given out each year may be unnecessary and potentially harmful, it suggests.

More than one in six (15%) of people in England take five or more medicines a day, increasing the risk of adverse effects, the review found. One in 14 (7%) are on eight drugs or more. About one in five hospital admissions in over-65s – and 6.5% of all hospital admissions – are caused by the adverse effects of medicines. The more pills a person takes, the higher the risk that one or more of these medicines will have an unwanted or harmful effect. Some medicines, such as those to reduce blood pressure, can also raise the risk of falls among the frail and elderly.

The findings follow a report by Public Health England in 2019 that found a quarter of adults in England were taking potentially addictive prescription medicines, with as many as half of them dependent on the drugs for the long term. Led by

NHS England’s chief pharmaceutical officer Dr Keith Ridge, the new review found that 10% of prescription items dispensed via primary care in England were inappropriate for the circumstances or wishes of that patient, or could be replaced with better, alternative treatments.

Estimated total NHS spending on medicines in England soared from £13bn in 2010/11 to £18.2bn in 2017/18. This represents an average growth of 5% a year – with 1.1bn prescription items dispensed in primary care by GPs and pharmacists every year.

Overprescribing has increasingly concerned health leaders in recent years. It can happen when a better alternative is available but not prescribed.

Sajid Javid, the health secretary, welcomed the report. “This is an incredibly important review which will have a lasting impact on people’s lives and improve the way medicines are prescribed,” he said.

The authors said that while they did not want to set a target for cutting overprescribing, a 10% reduction is “realistic”.

Front Page

en-gb

2021-09-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://guardian.pressreader.com/article/281801402103505

Guardian/Observer