People Urged To Assess Their Prescription Use And Need

The Department of Health (DoH) has announced an initiative to address the levels of prescribed medications and medical appliances in Northern Ireland.

Currently, over £800 million is spent each year in NI across hospitals and primary care medicines and appliances such as catheters or stoma bags.

According to the DoH: "We use a lot more medicines in Northern Ireland than in other parts of the UK. This includes more antibiotics, more painkillers, more baby milks and more nutritional supplements."

DoH is to work with local GPs and Community Pharmacists to focus on how medicines and appliances are prescribed more appropriately.

For patients, this may mean that some of their medicines will be de-prescribed, which means their medicines being stopped, changed or the amount they take reduced. This will happen after there has been a review and assessment that the medicine is either no longer needed, is ineffective, inappropriate or unsafe for that patient.

The public is also being asked to think before requesting a prescription for treatment of minor ailments. Ask yourself do you need it, and if so can you purchase it yourself? Ask your pharmacist if you are unsure.

The average number of prescription items a year is 23 per person in NI, with an average cost of £245. This cost is the highest in the UK and the volume of prescription items continues to rise each year.

With the health budget under severe pressure, savings on the medicines' budget can free up much-needed funds for other treatments.

Through this work, the Department of Health is aiming to make savings this year of £9.5m.

Professor Cathy Harrison, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer with the Department of Health said: "It is recognised that there are a number of underlying reasons for our high levels of medicines use and prescribing costs in Northern Ireland. This means that we need a range of solutions to manage the current financial position, and all parts of our health and care service need to work together to ensure that medicines are used in a way that is both safe and cost-effective.

"It is also recognised that a significant amount of work has already been undertaken across HSC in this area and that plans are being developed across the service to continue with this efficiency work in the months ahead."