The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7466 p200
25 August 2007

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News summary

England’s medicines costs rise as prescriptions increase

Medicines costs in England increased by 3.3 per cent in 2006, driven by a 4.4 per cent increase in prescribing by GPs.

The average per prescription cost of drugs fell by 1.1 per cent, or 3.5 per cent in real terms.

Statistics published by the NHS Information Centre last month show that 752 million prescriptions were dispensed with an average net ingredient cost of £10.90.

The average number of prescriptions per person was 14.8, with people aged over 60 years receiving an average of 40.8 prescription items each.

Nearly nine out of 10 prescriptions (88 per cent) were dispensed free of charge.