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  Dr Ann Robinson
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Norwich Union Healthcare: Health of the Nation 9

May 2007

Introduction

Health of the Nation is an ongoing research programme which tracks the opinions and concerns of UK GPs on issues of public interest and provides timely insights into critical and emerging issues for professionals, patients and policy makers alike.

Since launching in 2003 it has become a unique, credible and valued source of industry opinion. With 1,000 GPs taking part in this latest report, Norwich Union Healthcare has surveyed more GPs than ever, ensuring the results accurately reflect their views.

One of the key issues highlighted in this latest Health of the Nation report is GPs' perception of patients' non-compliance in regards to prescribed treatments and the resulting drug wastage - as much as 20 pence in each pound of a GPs' drugs budget, which is leading to an estimated £2billion * worth of drugs wastage in the UK every year. The cost and price of drugs is an issue of ongoing debate, highlighted most recently by an OFT report into how much the NHS was paying for branded drugs in a health service facing increasing cost pressures.

Nevertheless participating GPs confirmed that a critical issue that also needs to be addressed is the wastage caused by patients' misuse of prescriptions and their failure to follow prescription regimes. In line with this finding, they suggest additional ways of tackling expensive drug wastage such as better patient education and an increased focus on improving doctor-patient relationships - a recurring theme in all Health of the Nation surveys.

Equally notable is the growth in self-diagnosis, which our doctors also believe could be having a damaging impact on their relationships with patients and their ability to improve compliance rates.

However our report rings another alarm bell which we believe is worth highlighting: patients least likely to comply with their prescription regime are those aged between 13 and 17. Whilst traditionally this age group are not seen as largest consumers of pharmaceutical spend (conventional wisdom suggests that older patients with chronic conditions account for a greater spend), tackling the issues surrounding non-compliance in the younger age groups and understanding the relationship this generation holds with the healthcare professional community could reap significant health benefits in the future, by preventing further exacerbations of existing conditions.

* Figure based on an average of £255,780 (Prescription Pricing Authority data) spent by each GP on prescribed drugs a year, totalling £10,231,1200,000 a year for the UK's 40,000 GPs.