NHS consultation aims to end homeopathy prescribing

21 Jul 17

Homeopathic remedies and others treatments considered to offer poor value for money should no longer be prescribed on the NHS, according to an NHS England consultation.

Homeopathic remedies

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The consultation, which aims to save the health service £190m a year, was published today. Under the proposed rules for GPs and pharmacists, 18 treatments, including homeopathy and herbal treatments would be removed from the NHS dispensary.

The remedies cost £141m a year. In 2016, the NHS spent £100,009 on herbal remedies and £92,412 on homeopathy, which the NHS defines as an effort to treat patients with highly diluted substances that are administered orally.

According to a 2010 House of Commons Science and Technology Committee report homeopathy was not supported by scientific evidence and any benefits to patients was down to placebo effect.

Simon Stevens, NHS England’s chief executive, described homeopathy as “at best a placebo and a misuse of scarce NHS funds”.

The consultation also covers a further 3,200 prescription items many of which are readily available and sold ‘over the counter’ in pharmacies, supermarkets, petrol stations, corner shops and other retailers, often at a significantly lower price than the cost to the NHS.

NHS leaders state in the consultation document: “Last year 1.1 billion prescription items were dispensed in primary care at a cost of £9.2bn.

“This cost coupled with finite resources means it is important that the NHS achieves the greatest value from the money that it spends.”

Doctors and pharmacists will be urged to limit prescribing for minor self-limiting conditions, such as coughs and colds. Cough mixture and cold treatments, eye drops, laxatives and sun cream lotions currently cost the public purse between £50m and £100m a year.

NHS England also said it was in favour of restricting the availability of gluten-free foods on prescription, which costs £26m a year. These are currently subject to a separate Department of Health consultation.

The British Medical Association welcomed the idea of increasing the cost-effectiveness of prescriptions but warned unless there is a clinical reason for the change of prescription, GPs should have the “flexibility” to continue to meet individual patient’s needs without having to negotiate “bureaucratic hurdles”.

Dr Andrew Green, BMA prescribing subcommittee chair, said: “The suggestion to restrict prescribing of effective drugs that are also available over-the-counter cannot be supported as it is likely to increase health inequalities and expose GPs to the potential for complaints.

“We are particularly concerned about the harm this may cause for those already most disadvantaged in society, and cannot have GPs applying arbitrary means-tests or judgments as to the likelihood of patients not taking recommended medicines on the basis of cost.” 

Cristal Sumner, chief executive of the British Homeopathic Association, said she was disappointed that NHS England cited the 2010 science and technology report because she questioned the manner in which the review was conducted.

Sumner added: “This recommendation is not cost effective as patients will be prescribed more expensive conventional drugs in place of homeopathy, which defeats the object of the exercise.

“The NHS also claims it wants to reduce the of amount prescription drugs patients take, then stops offering complementary therapies which can help achieve this.

“The NHS’s recommendation is bad for its already overstretched budget and for patients.”

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