NHS and climate change: stop 28 day prescriptions for drugs taken long term

From July the NHS in England must consider climate change when making decisions.1 One of the more frequent complaints I hear from my ex-patients is about having to take a monthly trip to the pharmacy to collect their 28 day repeat prescription. These frequent journeys—usually made by car—are associated with a harmful impact on the natural environment, including on air quality.Studies have shown that three month prescriptions might be better than 28 day prescriptions for people established on drugs for long standing health conditions.2Many drugs for long term conditions (such as furosemide, digoxin, warfarin, or simvastatin) cost between 3p and 5p a tablet; the pharmacy dispensing fee is just over £2 per item. The cost to the NHS of three separate prescriptions of 28 tablets costing 4p each is about £9.36, whereas the cost of a single, three month prescription for the same number of tablets is 40% cheaper at…
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