28 March 2017 - NHS England will be leading a review of low value prescription items from April 2017 and introducing new guidance for Clinical Commissioning Groups, with a view to substantially saving NHS expenditure in this area. 

It follows extensive work by NHS Clinical Commissioners which identified significant areas where potential savings can be made, up to potentially £400m per year.

They have requested that NHS England now set out a national approach that would, following consultation, be adopted by individual Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) across England. The review will seek to address the growing concern over the justification for many low value prescriptions which absorb millions of NHS funding every year, that could be spent on care which has a bigger impact on improving outcomes for patients.

NHS England will work with clinicians and clinical commissioning groups to develop guidelines initially around a set of 10 medicines which are ineffective, unnecessary, inappropriate for prescription on the NHS, or indeed unsafe, and that together cost the NHS £128m per year. In developing the guidance, the views of patient groups, clinicians, commissioners and providers across the NHS will be sought.

Read NHS England press release