GPs set to stop prescribing painkillers to save £500,000 a year

Duce Graham

NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has revealed plans to stop paying for the prescribing of over-the-counter medicines for common ailments like coughs, colds and headaches.

It is estimated that the proposal would save £500,000 a year and give every GP in the area approximately one extra hour a day to see patients.

Medicines earmarked for people to buy themselves instead of getting on prescription include:

  • Pain killers for minor conditions
  • Remedies for diarrhoea, constipation and indigestion
  • Cough and cold medication
  • Antihistamines and anti-inflammatory medicines
  • Sun creams plus creams and ointments for minor skin conditions
  • Multivitamins.

The draft prescribing policy was supported last month by Cheshire East Council's health and adult social care overview and scrutiny committee, which also backed the CCG's proposal to seek the public's views.

The proposals have also been supported by a group of residents and health professionals brought together by the CCG to comment on its plans to deliver financial balance. The CCG is now developing plans to seek the public's views on the draft policy.

Dr Graham Duce, CCG clinical lead for prescribing and GP with Park Green Surgery, Macclesfield, said: "Most of the medicines in our draft policy are available to buy for less than the prescription charge of £8.40.

"Medicines that can cost as little as a few pence for people to buy in a shop can cost the NHS many times more when consultation costs and professional fees have been added.

"The CCG is facing significant financial challenges and is working with the public to make best use of the resources available, including asking patients to take as much responsibility as possible for their own health when they can."

Under the policy, medicines unavailable over the counter or unsuitable for purchase will continue to be available on prescription.

The CCG's draft prescribing policy was written as part of a financial recovery plan to save £9.7m in 2016-17 to achieve an end-of-year deficit of £3.8m agreed with NHS England.

In common with many health service commissioners in England, the CCG has a widening gap between the funding it gets from NHS England and the money it needs to spend on essential healthcare. To bridge the gap, the CCG has agreed plans to work more efficiently with service providers, award contracts offering better value, and stop paying for goods or services that it does not have to fund or which offer limited clinical benefit.

Much of the demand for healthcare in Eastern Cheshire arises from the fact that the area has the fastest growing percentage of people aged over 65 in the North West. As a result, the CCG spends well above the national average on specialist procedures like transplants and NHS-funded Continuing Healthcare for people who need long-term support at home after being sent home from hospital.

Many CCGs have already agreed similar policies or are planning to do so. For example, in the North West, NHS Warrington CCG and NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale CCG have both introduced similar policies to the one proposed by Eastern Cheshire while NHS South Cheshire CCG and NHS Vale Royal CCG are considering doing so.

NHS Eastern Cheshire CCG represents 23 GP practices which together plan and buy healthcare for 204,000 people in and around Alderley Edge, Bollington, Chelford, Congleton, Disley, Handforth, Holmes Chapel, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Poynton and Wilmslow.

Photo: Dr Graham Duce.

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NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group
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Comments

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Barry Buxton
Wednesday 13th July 2016 at 10:16 am
This is such a 'no-brainer' how could it have taken so long to make this decision?!