Island's '14m. 'pill bill' is starting to fall

SOCIAL SECURITY claims it is for the first time stemming the rising tide of spending on pharmaceuticals. A reduction in the price of drugs in the UK this year has started to stabilise the spiralling cost of health care in the island.

In a report put before the States, Social Security said the service was benefiting from a new pricing agreement between pharmaceutical firms and the UK Government.

This, coupled with the introduction in 2004 of a 'white list' of cheaper drugs, which can be prescribed in the island by GPs only, is bringing spending under control.

A spokesman for the department hoped this would be a new dawn for health services in Guernsey. He said: 'The Guernsey Pharmaceutical Service is benefiting this year from a price agreement between the UK Government and the major drugs manufacturers and suppliers.

'This has led to a reduction of around 7% in wholesale drug costs nationwide.'

The department spent '14.77m. on the service last year and '1.1m. of that was recouped through prescription charges. Currently, the fee payable to chemists is '2.40 per item and this will rise by 10p from January.

And for the first quarter of this year, projected figures show that spending is below last year's.

'For the first time, we are lower than the previous year and we hope that this will continue,' he added.

The department remains quietly confident despite the demands of an ageing population and islanders with high expectations of the health service.

A drive to cut spending while striving to deliver the best health care is the main battle for the department.

The Prescription Unit recently launched a scheme to cut waste by introducing a shorter course of treatment for a handful of drugs.

In a statement, the spokesman for the department added that medical innovations placed extra demands on the service.

He added: 'There are constant pressures on the pharmaceutical service from the introduction of new drugs and also new diagnostic techniques and early interventions for medical conditions.

'But this is what the pharmaceutical service is all about.

'It is there so that people can access lifesaving and life-improving drugs and medicines which might otherwise have been unaffordable.'

But officials say that despite the benefit of cheaper drugs from manufacturers, their own drives to curb spending were having the greatest impact.

'Social Security is pleased with the way the white list is working and considers it to be one of the most important controls on future expenditure,' the spokesman added.