Drug costs to be targeted
Spending on medicines has been highlighted as a target for savings to help control costs in the NHS.
Outlining a financial turnaround programme for the NHS at a 10 Downing
Street seminar last week, acting NHS chief executive Sir Ian Carruthers
said that there is considerable scope for savings in the annual £10.3bn
drugs bill. In particular, he believes that there are still savings to
be made from greater use of generic medicines. He said that too many
hospitals have a misplaced brand loyalty that adds to costs.
Drugs spending as a whole accounts for 11 per cent of the total NHS budget.
Staff salaries account for 65 per cent.
Sir Ian also told the meeting that more than three-quarters of NHS trusts
(excluding foundation trusts) were expected to break even or fail to
spend their allocated budgets.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Tony Blair told a New Health Network
conference that although the deficits of some hospital trusts were a
serious challenge, they should not be portrayed as evidence that the
NHS was in crisis because the total deficit was less than 1 per cent
of turnover.
Mr Blair said that NHS reforms were not creating deficits, they were
exposing them. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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