Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Policies promoting 28-day prescribing by GPs are likely to be a false economy as they cost at least as much as they are projected to save, pharmacy researchers have suggested.
Their study said the Department of Health-endorsed policy to promote shorter prescribing durations costs at least an additional ?150m a year due to increased dispensing fees from pharmacies.
It found the policy had been effective in prompting a ‘generalised change in prescribing behaviour’, with GPs prescribing five fewer doses per prescription compared with a decade ago.
But the analysis led by Professor David Taylor, professor of pharmaceutical and public health policy at University College London School of pharmacy, concluded the policies had been applied too ‘rigidly’ in some areas, and said GPs should be allowed to use their discretion in determining prescription duration.
http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/20000542.article
(Free registration required)
Their study said the Department of Health-endorsed policy to promote shorter prescribing durations costs at least an additional ?150m a year due to increased dispensing fees from pharmacies.
It found the policy had been effective in prompting a ‘generalised change in prescribing behaviour’, with GPs prescribing five fewer doses per prescription compared with a decade ago.
But the analysis led by Professor David Taylor, professor of pharmaceutical and public health policy at University College London School of pharmacy, concluded the policies had been applied too ‘rigidly’ in some areas, and said GPs should be allowed to use their discretion in determining prescription duration.
http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/20000542.article
(Free registration required)
