The government must act "quickly and decisively" to increase use of new and innovative medicines across England, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has said in response to NHS data showing wide variation in uptake between commissioning localities.

An innovation scorecard, published by the NHS Information Centre on Thursday (January 10), compared the use of Nice-recommended drugs and treatments with Nice's estimates for their uptake in each CCG area, revealing imbalances across England.

For example, in NHS Bassetlaw CCG the uptake of smoking cessation drug varenicline was more than double the Nice estimate, while in NHS Harrow CCG it was less than a third of the forecast usage.

"[The report] must spur us in to action so that in years to come patients can access the same medicines, no matter where they live" Stephen Whitehead, ABPI

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There was similar variation among the uptake of statins, with NHS Camden CCG only reaching two thirds of its estimate, while NHS Knowsley CCG almost doubled its Nice prediction. Nice highlighted that the data was experimental and could not be used to accurately compare local commissioners' adherence to its recommendations. But APBI chief executive Stephen Whitehead said the report must "spur us in to action so that in years to come patients can access the same medicines, no matter where they live".

"I believe the government understands the challenges, but it must act quickly and decisively to drive the adoption and diffusion of the newest and most innovative medicines across England," he added.

The ABPI was concerned that the uptake of new medicines across the country was much lower than forecast, with data from 2011 revealing the uptakes of both prucalopride – used to treat gout – and constipation drug febuxostat were just a tenth of Nice estimates.

Nice welcomed the publication of the scorecard and the "incentive it will provide in overcoming barriers to innovation".

The data would help the NHS to identify variation in the uptake of medicines and ensure that "any variation can then be justified, challenged or acted upon locally", said Nice deputy chief executive Gillian Leng.