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Norwich Union Healthcare: Health of the Nation 9

Comment from Dr Ann Robinson

Dr Ann Robinson has been a GP for 15 years and is a partner in a practice in North London. She agrees that patients often don't take the medicines prescribed by GPs and that this results in huge financial waste. She also sees the onus as being on GPs to discuss the need for a treatment with the patient and reach an agreed plan.

"While I'm shocked by the findings in this research that 20p in every £1 spent on prescriptions is wasted, I can't say that I'm surprised. Many patients prefer to take their health into their own hands and decide when and how to use drugs that they have been prescribed.

"However much of the waste occurs because the doctor hasn't fully understood the needs and concerns of the patient. In order to deal with this problem, I would ideally like to be able to spend more time with patients, to reach an agreed plan which they are more likely to stick to. But a GP's time is another issue that has been highlighted in this report. Tough targets mean less time with patients, which in turn is resulting in the decline of doctor-patient relationships. It's basically a vicious healthcare circle. .

"In my opinion, we need to be communicating better with patients to reach a shared plan. Shortcuts don't work, and a brief consultation during which the doctor is more interested in targets than in what the patient is saying, followed by a scribbled prescription, is bound to result in poor communication and waste. People also need to remember that as taxpayers, it's their own money they are throwing down the drain when they fail to take prescriptions as prescribed."

Dr Ann Robinson, Spokesperson for the GP Panel