3.3% rise in prescriptions dispensed in England

8 July 2015

According to the just released Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) for England, 1,064.6 million prescription items were dispensed in 2014, a 3.3% increase (34.5 million items) on the previous year and a 55.2% increase (378.4 million items) since 2004.

Other key findings include:

The total net ingredient cost of prescriptions dispensed in 2014 increased to £8.9 billion ($13.88 billion), from £8.6 billion in 2013, an increase of 2.6% (£227.5 million). This is a 9.6% increase (£773.0 million) on 2004, when the total cost was £8.1 billion.
The leading British National formulary (BNF) Section in terms of net ingredient cost (NIC) for the eighth year in succession, is BNF 6.1 Drugs used in diabetes.
In terms of therapeutic area, the greatest increase in the volume of prescribing in 2014 is of BNF Section 4.3, Antidepressant drugs, (3.8 million items).
89.9% of all prescription items were dispensed free of charge, with 60.0% dispensed free to patients claiming age exemption (aged 60 and over).
Simvastatin was the most commonly prescribed chemical with 37.8 million items dispensed in 2014, whilst fluticasone propionate (Inh) had the greatest NIC, £394.5 million.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK

More ones to watch >