The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7199 p705-712
25 May 2002

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News summary

Welsh issue most prescriptions but also the cheapest

Prescribers in Wales issue the greatest number of prescriptions per head in the four home countries but the net ingredient cost per item is the lowest, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.

For the financial year 2000–01, 43.3 million prescription items were dispensed by pharmacists and dispensing doctors in Wales, an increase of 5 per cent on the previous year. This was equivalent to 14.7 items per head. Total net ingredient cost was £411m, a real terms increase of just over 4 per cent. The average net ingredient cost per item was £9.48, an increase of 6 pence, but lower than in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland where the average cost ranged from £10.06 to £10.50.

Bro Taf Health Authority had the distinction of having the lowest number of items dispensed per head (14.1) at the second lowest net ingredient cost (£9.15) and with the highest rate of generic prescribing (72.8 per cent).

The figures are contained in statistical release SDR 19/2002, available from the National Assembly for Wales (tel 029 2082 5050) or from its website.