12.08.14
More than £2m per day spent on diabetes prescriptions – HSCIC
Prescriptions to manage diabetes in primary care cost the NHS more than £2m every day in 2013-14, according to new figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).
In its latest report – Prescribing for Diabetes – it was revealed that the net ingredient cost for managing diabetes was £803.1m last year, a 5.1% increase from £764.1m in 2012-13, and a 56.3% increase on £513.9m in 2005-06.
The prescribing information used in the report was obtained from the Prescribing Analysis and Cost Tool (PACT) system, which covers prescriptions prescribed by GPs, nurses, pharmacists and others in England and dispensed anywhere in the UK.
Data in the study also reaffirmed that almost 10% (9.5%) of the total primary care drugs bill was spent on managing diabetes last year, highlighting a continuous annual rise from 6.6% in 2005-06.
There were also 45.1 million prescription items for managing diabetes issued in 2013-14, an average of 123,610 items per day. This was a rise of 6.1% on last year. Insulin items, which can be prescribed for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, accounted for about one in seven items prescribed for diabetes - similar to the figure seen in 2012-13.
However, seven out of ten diabetes prescription items were for antidiabetic drugs which are prescribed only for type 2 diabetes (70.3% or 31.7 million items). This is a 6.9% increase on 29.7 million items in 2012-13.
HSCIC chair Kingsley Manning said: “Today’s report brings to light the rising costs for managing diabetes in primary care.
“Diabetes continues to be one of the most prevalent life-threatening conditions in England and now accounts for almost 10% of the drugs bill. Our latest data highlights the growing implications to the NHS and patients of managing this condition.”
Recently, Public Health England published a report which explored the relationship between Type 2 diabetes and obesity. The report also contains new analysis, which shows that men who have a large waist circumference of over 102cm (40.2 inches) are five times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
Barbara Young, chief executive at Diabetes UK, said: “We hope the report acts as a spur to action, as there are now 3.8 million of us in the UK who have diabetes and it costs the NHS £10bn per year. With many millions of people in the UK now at high risk of Type 2 diabetes, this is an epidemic that looks likely to get even worse and if this happens then the impact on the nation’s health would be devastating and the increase in costs to the NHS would be unsustainable.
“This is why we need the government to focus much more on preventing Type 2 diabetes. It needs to ensure the NHS Health Check is properly rolled out and that those it identifies as being at high risk of Type 2 are given the support they need to make lifestyle changes.”
(Image: c. Deepatheawesome)
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