NHS overspends on basic painkillers

According to a damning new report, the cash-strapped NHS is wasting millions of pounds a year on common painkillers by failing to drive a hard enough bargain with suppliers.

According to the report, Health managers could save more than £50 million a year on paracetamol, aspirin and Ibuprofin alone if they simply bought the same from Asda or Tesco
(I just bought a box of 16 Ibuprofin yesterday from Morrisons for 32p!).
Instead, regardless of the huge buying power of the NHS, they are wasting taxpayers money paying £41 million on overpriced paracetamol, £10 million on aspirin and £3 million on Ibuprofin.

This scandalous waste of taxpayers money could pay for 10,000 hip or knee operations!

What are your thoughts on this?

Re: NHS overspends on basic painkillers

I think low grade pain relief, antihistamines etc., should be payed for over the counter.

The Doctors appointments that are taken up for these items are many.

In the US you can still buy over the counter in bulk, I buy Paracetamol over the counter in tubs of 500 and a 1000. It's named Acetaminophen there.

I was telling a taxi driver this once on the way to the airport, he said why are you buying them, I get mine off the Doctor. Point made.

Once our NHS breaks, there will be no fixing it.

Once again though, I note there is no mention of what the visitors are costing us, they are coming in with all sort of diseases nearly eradicated by us. Plenty of them have aids, too.

Re: NHS overspends on basic painkillers

Doctors used to say about over the counter medicines that you can buy these for less than the cost of the prescription so for those who get free prescriptions they should be told the same, that they can't give a prescription for such cheap to buy items
If a paracetamol works for me then I wouldn't dream of going to the doctors anyway. too many time wasters do though

Re: NHS overspends on basic painkillers

Isn't it about £8.40 per item for prescriptions now? So if Paracetamol is prescribed by your GP, does that mean you have to pay £8.40p for it?
Asda are currently selling a box of 16 caplets for . . . 19p so where does the remaining £8.21 go to?

Re: NHS overspends on basic painkillers

I can't help feeling because the NHS managers have access to bucketloads of taxpayers cash and are truthfully, unaccountable for it's annual spend until such time as now when the scandal is disclosed, they are just too damned lazy to barter for the best prices.
If the lid has been raised over basic painkillers, the mind boggles at the thousands of other medical items in the hospital pharmacies that have been overpaid for!
This would never be sanctioned if managers had to account for every penny of taxpayers money that they have to spend. If it was happening in a private sector, half of them would have been up the road ages ago.

It really is time that heads roll and this scandal is reigned in and made accountable for. It's gone on for far too long when the NHS is pleading poverty. There must be millions of pounds simply being wasted every week.

Re: NHS overspends on basic painkillers

Hi

Central Purchasing, a nightmare.

Huge contracts, one supplier and we had to pay on costs for the cost of the Central Purchasing Unit.

They would not agree that you could buy elsewhere if it was cheaper, absolutely stupid.

Re: NHS overspends on basic painkillers

SG this was being discussed on the radio this morning. Apparently some companies are making millions by selling cheap generic medicines to the NHS for exorbitant amounts because they can, no one questions it.

We pay huge wages to hospital managers who can't get a grip on the expenses, the NHS will just pay up it seems without question.
Heads should roll

Re: NHS overspends on basic painkillers

We are lucky enough to have our prescription for free in Wales, Mups.

So to save twenty pence, people would rather go to the Doctors for it.

Re: NHS overspends on basic painkillers

I missed that this morning Meg, I was watching a programme on television instead with a studio full of Scottish remainers moaning non-stop regarding Scotland's right to participate in the decision to invoke Article 50.

By the time the programme finished I was numb!!!!

Re: NHS overspends on basic painkillers

There is a degree of pricing going on within health boards. The Welsh health board is very proactive with this.

Inhalers. There's Salbutamol and it's generic Salamol which is less than half price to buy (and not as effective in my opinion).

The price for Salbutamol was getting ridiculous so the Health boards tried to negotiate down.

The Manufactures said no, the price stands. The health board said fine, we're taking it off our prescribing list and they did. Every one had the generic.

Three months later, the manufacturers stood down and agreed to price it the same as the generic.

The American's the last I read were questioning why they had to pay a double figure for Salbutamol when we Brits get it for a single figure.

The manufactures were charging the US twenty odd pounds for a single unit.