GPs under pressure to not use branded medications

A recent poll of GPs has shown that they feel under too much pressure to use cheaper drugs as part of a NHS cost-cutting drive.

The poll of 401 GPs by Pulse magazine found that two thirds felt under pressure and a third said this had started interfering with care.

The NHS drugs bill doubled in the past decade to over £8bn a year and the increased use of generic medications is part of a NHS plan to make savings in the overall drugs budget. Nearly all NHS trusts in England have set up schemes to get GPs to use generic versions of drugs which are cheaper than branded alternatives.

But the government said doctors were free to use their clinical judgement, with a Department of Health spokesman adding that:

"Cost-effective prescribing releases resources for more patients to receive treatment."

However, we expect GPs to exercise their clinical judgment to ensure that their patients are prescribed the most suitable product available.

There is nothing to prevent branded prescribing if a doctor considers it in the patient's best interests to receive a specific product."

Dr Richard Vautrey, of the British Medical Association, said GPs felt caught between the "devil and the deep blue sea" over the issue.

Branded medications include new medications that are still under patent. Branded versions of medications can sometimes be better tolerated or more effective than generic versions.

Savings in the overall NHS drugs budget are where the money will come from to fund a scheme to enable first cancer patients and then patients with all long-term conditions to receieve free prescriptions. However, if this means that certain drugs become less available, it may be more problematic for patients with long-term conditions in the future.