NI’s £800m use of prescribed medicines higher than anywhere else in UK

Northern Ireland’s chief pharmaceutical officer has said that the use of prescribed medicines and the associated costs remains too high, exceeding £800m a year.

In a blog to reflect on the 75th anniversary of the NHS, Professor Cathy Harrison added that medicine costs in NI are the second largest single investment made in the health service, after staff.

“The average number of prescription items a year is 21 per person, at a cost of £227. This cost is the highest in the UK and the volume of prescription items is still rising each year,” she said.

“There is an uncomfortable truth that manifests in the prescribing data for medicines. In Northern Ireland, we continue to use more of almost every type of medicine than other parts of the UK.

“That includes more antibiotics, more painkillers, more baby milks, more nutritional supplements, even more oxygen.”

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Source: Belfast Telegraph, 27 June 2023