The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7189 p349-354
16 March 2002

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Inquiry into prescription pricing system in Scotland under way

The Audit Committee in Scotland is currently considering evidence in its inquiry into prescription pricing. The inquiry follows a report by the Auditor General for Scotland "Overview of the National Health Service in Scotland 2000/01" (see PJ, 19 January, p48).

The committee heard evidence on 5 March from Frank Owens, chairman, Scottish Pharmaceutical General Council. He described how the Practitioner Services Division (the Scottish prescription pricing authority) had introduced a new computer system in July 2000. The SPGC believes that the system has limited future potential and that the introduction of electronic transfer of prescription data would have been more beneficial for the NHS.

Mr Owens told the committee that the new system could not price prescriptions fast enough and consequently estimated payments had to be used. These were often inaccurate and mostly over-generous causing pharmacists difficulties in managing cash flow. The problem was compounded by a lack of transparency in paperwork relating to prescription pricing. Finally, the SPGC had checked a random sample of prescriptions and found a doubling in the rate of errors in pricing since the introduction of the new system.

Mr Owens told The Journal: "We now need, as a matter of priority, to restore pharmacists' confidence in the payment system. Perhaps the best way to do this is by improving transparency in payment and by simplifying what is currently an overly complicated set of pricing rules."