The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 275 No 7380 p735
17 December 2005

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NHS efficiency savings ahead of schedule

Efficiency savings in the NHS in England are ahead of schedule, the Secretary of State for Heath, Patricia Hewitt, has said.

Steps to save £6.5bn between 2004 and 2008 are said to be £200m ahead of target, with £1.7bn having been saved already.

The single biggest contribution to the savings to date has been achieved by forcing down the cost of medicines to the NHS. Price reductions achieved by renegotiating the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme and introducing new controls on generic drug prices have saved £697m since 2004 and are expected to save £975m annually by March 2006.

The cash savings were set out in a Department of Health report last week (PDF 260K). The report also says that time savings are expected to be made by introducing the electronic transfer of prescriptions from GPs to pharmacies and from pharmacies to the Prescription Pricing Authority.