Primary Care Diabetes Prescriptions Cost UK Over £2 Million a Day

Prescriptions to manage diabetes in primary care in the UK cost the NHS an average of £2.2 million ($3.7 m) every day in 2013-14, according to a report from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).

The report, Prescribing for Diabetes, also shows the Net Ingredient Cost (NIC)  for managing diabetes was £803.1 million ($1,347 m) in 2013–14. This is a 5.1 per cent increase from £764.1 million in 2012–13 (£2.1 million per day on average) and a 56.3 per cent increase on £2005-06 (£1.4 million per day on average).

Almost 10 per cent (9.5 per cent) of the NHS’s total primary care drugs bill was spent on managing diabetes, revealing a continuous annual rise from 6.6 per cent in 2005–06.

THe HSCIC report shows that in primary care in 2013-14:

• There were 45.1 million prescription items for managing diabetes, an average of 123,610 items per day.

• Insulin items can be prescribed for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes and accounted for about one in seven items prescribed for diabetes.

• Seven out of ten diabetes prescription items were for anti diabetic drugs, which are prescribed only for type 2 diabetes.

• Diagnositic and monitoring devices made up the remainder of diabetes items prescribed and the majority of these were blood glucose testing strips.

• Costs of all three categories of diabetes drugs have increased from 2005-06 but in particular insulin items where the rise in spending was 11.6 per cent higher than the rise in items prescribed.

http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB14681