NHS prescribing of toothpastes and toiletries cost £3.4 million last year

Doctors prescribing of commonly available toothpastes and toiletries cost the NHS £3.4 million last year, according to figures from NHS Digital.

Credit: © Scott Olson /Staff/Contributor/Getty Images News

Details of an analysis of the statistics were published in the Sunday Times newspaper on 29 July 2018 showing that numbers of prescriptions for toiletries that most people would buy themselves rose by almost 600% in a decade from 79,000 in 2007 to about 471,000 last year in England.

The data comes from NHS Digital's Prescription Cost Analysis report¹ published on 15 March 2018 and the new analysis found that more than two thirds of toiletries prescribed last year were for products with identical names to those available over the counter, including Colgate toothpaste, Neutrogena shampoos, and Ambre Solaire aftersun lotion.

Doctors prescribed just eight tubes of Colgate Total Advanced Toothpaste in 2007 and this rose to 131 in 2014 and in contrast to no prescriptions of Colgate Total Pro Gum Health Daily Mouthwash in 2007, there were 419 prescriptions of the product in 2015.

NHS Digital said it would be inaccurate to directly compare the cost per item with the cost from a supermarket because the prescribed items came in all sorts of different forms, strengths, and quantities. To compare the net ingredient cost of these to the cost of supermarket bought products would be imprecise.

Earlier this year, NHS England published guidance² intended to curb prescriptions for over the counter medicines with the aim of freeing up to almost £100 million for frontline care each year.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: 'GPs are expert medical professionals, and being able to correctly identify and prescribe drugs that are most likely to benefit to our patients is a core part of our training.

'GPs are acutely aware of how much money prescriptions cost the NHS, and will always encourage patients who can afford to buy “over the counter” products to source them themselves.

'The College has worked closely with NHS England in recent months to help establish new guidelines identifying over-the-counter medicines that shouldn't be routinely prescribed through the health service.'

John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance – the campaigning group seeking to reform taxes and protect taxpayers – said: 'NHS England has made progress on curtailing the dispensing of over-the-counter medicines, but much more needs to be done to stop this wasteful spending.'