Antipsychotics rise in price and what this means

It has been revealed that the drug tariff for a number of mental health medicines has increased by more than one thousand two hundred per cent as a result of a rise in demand.
An analysis of the monthly drug tariff for England and Wales has shown that the reimbursement prices of nearly nine hundred products have increased in the last five years, costing the NHS an additional four hundred million pounds annually.
The medicines indicated in the British National Formulary for psychosis and similar disorders have experienced the most significant price increases, with some as high as one thousand two hundred per cent.
The total additional cost for each of the fifty-five antipsychotics that have increased in price in the last five years comes to nearly thirty-three million pounds. The drug tariff also lists thirty-three antipsychotics that have maintained the same price over five years and sixteen that have decreased in price, saving the NHS approximately one point two million pounds annually.
Mental health services, which are already struggling to cope with the fallout of the pandemic, are likely to receive more pressure as a result of these price increases.
A report estimated that ten million people could require additional mental health support as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The College of Mental Health Pharmacy’s former president, Ciara Ni Dhubhlaing, has stated that, despite their growing cost, it is unlikely that patients prescribed antipsychotics would be offered alternatives.