NHS ‘paying too much for drugs’

In a report published this week, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has reported that the NHS is paying too much for drugs and has urged the reform of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme, the purchasing system used by the health service.

Following examination of the scheme, the OFT has stated that reform would provide the NHS with better value for money. It has recommended a replacement of the current scheme with value-based pricing, where NHS expenditure reflects patient benefit.

The OFT reports that the NHS spends approximately ?8 billion a year on branded prescription medication, noting that some of these drugs are up to ten times as expensive as similar medication providing comparable benefits.

John Fingleton, chief executive of the OFT, said: “Focussing prices on the needs of patients rather than on the costs of drug companies would be good for both patients and for business.”

He added that such a move would widen access to effective treatment and focus the efforts of drug companies on areas of unmet patient need, resulting in the development of valuable pharmaceutical products.

Last December, the Department of Health reported that the NHS could save millions of pounds each year by prescribing generic versions of statins for the treatment of high cholesterol where clinically appropriate.