Government promises to reduce overprescribing of medicines

Ministers will announce plans to prevent the unnecessary prescription of medicines.

The announcement follows today’s publication of a review led by Dr Keith Ridge CBE, chief pharmaceutical officer for England in which it was estimated that 10% of prescriptions are ‘overprescribed’.

Around 1 in 5 hospital admissions in over-65s—6.5% of total admissions—are caused by the adverse effects of medicines.

As recommended by the report, ministers will also appoint a national clinical director for prescribing, increased use of ‘social prescribing’ and facilitate better handovers between hospitals and the community.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said:
“This is an incredibly important review which will have a lasting impact on people’s lives and improve the way medicines are prescribed.

“With 15% of people taking 5 or more medicines a day, in some cases to deal with the side effects of another medicine, more needs to be done to listen to patients and help clinical teams tackle overprescribing.