Prescription sales soar in England | InPharm

Published on 29/07/11 at 07:30am

New data shows that prescription sales increased by more than two-thirds in England over the last decade, but a majority of scrips were written for generic drugs.

In the period from 2000 to 2010, the average number of prescription items dispensed per head of the population rose from 11.2 to 17.8, with the net ingredient cost per head of the population rising from £113 to £169.7.

The rise has been put down to a greater availability of medicines and an ageing population.

But the Department of Health data also shows the average net ingredient cost of an individual prescription has fallen during the ten years.

NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: “This report shows that on average people in England are receiving more prescription items than ten years ago, although the average cost of each prescription item has decreased over the same period.

“Prescribing has a significant impact on peoples' lives; and from a financial point of view is of substantial cost to the NHS - with a net ingredient cost of £8,834 million last year in England.

“[This] report is important in giving people and the NHS the information needed to help understand prescribing today and patterns over time.”

Ben Adams

via inpharm.com

Posted via email from Jack's posterous