In March 2018, NHS England and NHS Improvement published guidance advising GPs to “curb prescribing” of OTC treatments for certain conditions, including headlice, earwax and mouth ulcers.

In response to a written parliamentary question by Labour peer Baroness Gale last week (August 20), parliamentary under-secretary for health and social care Lord Bethell, said there has been a “reduction in spend of £32m ” on OTC items since the guidance was published.

This “estimate” was accurate as of 10 July 2020, Lord Bethell added.

“This reduction includes spending on OTC items for conditions that are self-limiting and conditions that lend themselves to self-care, as well as vitamins, minerals and probiotics,” he said. 

“The list of OTC products is updated as new products become available,” Lord Bethell added.

C+D recently learnt that this amount is in line with how much the NHS expected to have saved since publishing the guidance. However, when the guidance was issued in 2018, the NHS said it anticipated the change would “free up to almost £100 million for frontline care each year”.

The £32m relates to costs prior to any discounts and does not incorporate dispensing costs or fees or adjustment for income obtained where a prescription charge is paid at the time the prescription is dispensed, or where the patient has purchased a prepayment certificate.

It has not been confirmed where the £32m in savings has been invested. However, within the NHS, such savings would normally be put towards patient care.

AIMp: Some items “lost completely”

Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, warned that not all the scrapped items wil “reappear in a community pharmacy as OTC sales”.

“Some of these items are lost completely because patients cannot or will not buy them and some have gone to online sales, especially during the [COVID-19] pandemic,” she told C+D yesterday (August 24).

RPS: Ensure medicines access for patients

Commenting on the £32m in savings, Royal Pharmaceutical Society English board chair Professor Claire Anderson said pharmacists “play an important role in ensuring the NHS gets the most from its medicines budget and giving expert advice to patients”.

“The expansion of the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service could see more referrals into pharmacy for minor ailments, which will be key to managing demand across the NHS,” Professor Anderson said.

“Any further proposals on changes to prescribing must ensure that patients can still get access to the medicines they need,” she added.