The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 278 No 7438 p159
10 February 2007

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Medicines uptake increases but geographical variation still exists

Uptake of medicines has increased across England but the rate of increase varies substantially, according to a report commissioned by the Ministerial Industry Strategy Group, an advisory body with members from the Department of Health and the pharmaceutical industry.

“Medicines uptake in England: a quantitative analysis of variation” looked at medicines across a range of therapeutic areas — for the 28 strategic health authorities and 303 primary care trusts in place before the 2006 restructuring — analysing trends over time, variation between geographical areas and changes in such variations over time.

“There is considerably more variation between geographic areas when looking at drugs mainly used in hospitals, than those prescribed in primary care. In part, the lower variation in primary care is due to well-established therapies for diseases and conditions with relatively high prevalence,” the report says. It adds that variations are more likely for newer medicines in primary care, a trend which decreases over time. There is a tendency for hospital medicines to be newer and more specialised, and for the use of such therapies to be more concentrated within London.

There appears to be considerable variation in the uptake of therapies that have been appraised by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, in relation to the timing of NICE appraisal. “Some have already been widely used prior to the NICE guidance, some appear to increase in uptake in anticipation of the assessment by NICE and in others there appears to be delay in increased uptake,” the report claims.

The report on uptake of medicines supports a wider document published this week by the MISG detailing the group’s “Long-term leadership strategy” for better Government and industry co-operation.

The strategy involves three working groups which aim to improve the relationship between the NHS and industry to support the better use of cost-effective medicines, to support the European Commission’s plans to improve the competitiveness of the European pharmaceutical industry and to consider what is needed to improve the effectiveness of medicines regulation.