NHS failure on medicine prices costs public £125m - Billy Kenber The Times 16/8/16

[Clutter]

I'd not read this article earlier. It outlines how the NHS Business Services Authority, a Department of Health quango waved through medicine price rises of up to 600 per cent with no questions asked, according to a cache of emails seen by The Times.

Health staff queried the “large difference” in prices set by the British company AMCo — which has an effective monopoly over the supply of certain drugs — but merely asked for confirmation that the changes were correct. The new prices for 54 medicines alone cost the NHS an extra £125 million last year.

Continues in thetimes.co.uk/article/nhs-...

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[shaws]

I can quite believe that "Department of Health quango waved through medicine price rises of up to 600 per cent". The money isn't coming out of their pockets as I assume they get paid by the DoH. Keeping in mind do any of these members also belong to other committees, especially if they get paid or 'in kind' for attending or agreeing to suggestions.

[Clutter in reply to shaws]

Shaws,

No idea but to my mind there should be better oversight and control of pricing by the NHS. They're the biggest employer in the world so it seems likely they are the biggest buyer of medicines and medical devices and that should give them considerable purchasing power.

[shaws in reply to Clutter]

There is no accountability by some departments obviously. They should definitely have purchasing power Clutter. It seems so obvious but maybe the NHS has indirectly thrown millions away on things that didn't work or problems were found afterwards and it was withdrawn. My cousin was given a prescription for pain relief and extolled how wonderful it was. The following couple of weeks it was withdrawn as there had been serious side effect being reported.

[SilverAvocado in reply to Clutter]

I agree. I hear they also pay unreasonable prices for silly things like paperclips, too.

[Hidden in reply to Clutter]

Exactly right!

[Marz]

I read recently that when they lowered cholesterol levels which lead to more people being treated - the increase in the bill was half a billion pounds. Read it on Cholesterol Support - here on HU. Another huge waste of dosh but no doubt Big Pharma massaged important bods .... so much waste in the NHS and so much needed in certain areas. It defies belief. Running a business needs more attention to detail I'm afraid.

[Clutter in reply to Marz]

Marz,

Great! 1/2bn to cause joint and muscle pain in 99 patients who won't benefit from statins to extend the lifespan of the one patient who may benefit by 4 days. How very worth it.

[marigold22]

I read an article somewhere written by a man who was responsible for buying something like specialised wheelchairs for specific NHS patients. The NHS told him to buy one for something like £20,000 but he refused and ordered one from his own choice of company for £7,000. There is terrible terrible waste within the NHS. The admin staff seem to be 'stuck' - either not using their own brains or there's more politics than we all realise. I've also read somewhere that the NHS pay extortionate amounts for something like J-cloths when they are available on the high street for pence. It's endemic.

[SilverAvocado in reply to marigold22]

Yes, I wonder this. How has it happened? To be extremely cynical, I might fear it's anti-NHS pressure, trying to make out a publicly run health service can't handle it's money, to justify dismantling it and selling off to private companies