New targets set for UK Primary Care Trusts have saved the NHS millions, according to new figures released by the Department of Health.
Health Minister Ben Bradshaw has proclaimed the benefits of a number of reforms and efficiency drives which have saved money in the service, including the mass switch from branded to generic statins.
The figures are published as part of the Recent Better Care, Better Value indicators, which show the NHS has saved £363 million by working more efficiently in the past year.
The indicators help the NHS identify best practice and show trust-by-trust performance across a number of key efficiency and productivity indicators.
"These figures demonstrate a significant achievement. In the same year that the NHS is back on a stable financial footing, productivity across a range of key indicators has also increased," said Bradshaw.
Switching patients from branded statins, such as Pfizer's Lipitor to generics such as simvastatin has been controversial with pharma companies, and has even been a factor behind a legal challenge currently being mounted by the ABPI.
But the industry is otherwise powerless to stop large-scale switches to generics, and there are plans to incentivise the tactic in other therapy classes by including them in the Better Care Better Value indicators.
A further 37 indicators, first proposed for September 2007, have been pushed back to January next year, which could potentially save the NHS £2.2 billion.
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