Items which should not be routinely prescribed in primary care: a consultation on guidance for CCGs

Last year 1.1 billion prescription items were dispensed in primary care at a cost of £9.2billion. This cost coupled with finite resources means it is important that the NHS achieves the greatest value from the money that it spends.

We know that across England there is significant variation in what is being prescribed and to whom. Often patients are receiving medicines which have been proven to be ineffective or in some cases dangerous, for which there are other more effective, safer and/or cheaper alternatives.

NHS England has partnered with NHS Clinical Commissioners to support Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in ensuring that they can use their prescribing resources effectively and deliver best patient outcomes from the medicines that their local population uses. CCGs asked for a nationally co-ordinated approach to the development of commissioning guidance in this area to ensure consistency and address unwarranted variation. The aim is that this will lead to a more equitable process for making decisions about guidance on medicines but CCGs will need to take individual decisions on implementation locally.