The National Health Service (NHS) in England has stopped prescribing common over-the-counter medications like cough syrups, paracetamol, eye drops, and sun cream to reduce unnecessary spending. This decision follows public consultations that showed support for limiting prescriptions for minor conditions. The NHS aims to save around £190 million annually by encouraging patients to purchase these items directly from pharmacies and supermarkets.
People have been warned that their health condition may no longer be treated via an NHS prescription due to changes. In an effort to trim unnecessary spending, the NHS has called time on prescribing various over-the-counter remedies.
Many of these everyday items are cheaper to purchase directly than through NHS prescriptions. NHS England has pointed out hefty yearly expenditures on treating commonplace ailments such as constipation to the tune of £22.8 million, not to mention athlete's foot and other fungal infections , as well as expenditure on dandruff shampoos .
In a statement, NHS England shed light on prescription spending. It said: "GPs issued 1.1 billion prescription items at a cost of £9.2 billion in 2015/16. The vast majority were appropriate but many were for medicines, products or treatments that do not require a prescription and can be purchased over the counter from pharmacies, supermarkets, petrol stations, corner shops or other retailers in some cases at a much lower cost than the price paid by the NHS.
NHS Prescription Over-The-Counter Spending Medications Savings
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