More than 700 GPs prescribed ‘rubbish’ homeopathic treatments last year despite being labelled as a total waste of money by NHS boss
MORE than 700 GPs dished out “rubbish” homeopathic treatments last year, research reveals.
Thousands of sick Brits were given the controversial therapies – despite being described as a total waste of cash by the head of the NHS.
Homeopathy is based on the idea the body can heal itself through exposure to highly diluted substances that cause an illness.
For example hayfever sufferers take what is said to be a very weak solution of pollen -- but the solutions are generally so dilute they do not contain a detectable amount of the stated ingredient.
Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer, has said the treatments are rubbish.
And NHS boss Simon Stevens slammed homeopathy as a waste of money and warned it is “placebo at best”.
But from July 2016 to June 2017, family medics handed out nearly 6,000 prescriptions.
GPs will soon be banned from doling out homeopathic and herbal remedies as part of plans to save the health service £250 million a year.
The treatments are among 19 “low value” items the NHS says it should no longer be funding.
A review of prescribing data by Oxford University found GPs handed out 7.2 million prescriptions for these items last year, at a cost of £183 million.
Fentanyl, a powerful painkiller fifty times stronger than heroin, is also among the soon to be banned drugs.
But the Oxford study shows demand has risen in the past year, with nearly 900,000 prescriptions handed out at a cost of £37 million.
Sixty people have died in the UK in just eight months after overdosing on the painkiller.
Doctors typically prescribe fentanyl to cancer patients, sometimes in the form of a patch, lollipop or nasal spray.
But the National Crime Agency has warned heroin dealers are “playing Russian roulette” with addicts’ lives by mixing it with their supplies.
The NHS is also considering scrapping gluten-free foods.
Scientists found 1.3 million of these items were handed out at a cost of £18.7 million.
Lead researcher Dr Ben Goldacre said: “Each of the 19 treatments termed ‘low priority’ by NHS England represent possible waste in our health service, due to either a lack of good-quality evidence for their safety and effectiveness, or because there’s a cheaper alternative.”
The team used OpenPrescribing.net, a tool which takes raw data on GP practice prescribing and processes it into a user-friendly dashboard.
Dr Goldacre added: “We think it’s good for everyone to be able to see what GP practices are prescribing.
“It gives everyone the power to scrutinise prescribing at their own GP practice and explore how they’re responding to changes in clinical evidence - and price - given the finite resources available to the NHS.”
An NHS England spokesman said: "This useful information will help GPs ensure every pound is spent wisely on behalf of patients and taxpayers."
FULL LIST OF PRODUCTS CONSIDERED A LOW PRIORITY BY THE NHS
THESE are the first 18 products considered to be a low priority for the NHS and their annual cost to the health service
- Co-proxamol, an analgesic - £9 million
- Omega 3 fatty acid compounds - £6.3 million
- Lidocaine plasters - £19.3 million
- Rubefacients - £4.3 million
- Dosulepin - £2.7m
- Glucosamine and chondroiton - £0.4m
- Lutein and antioxidants - £1.5 million
- Oxycodone and naloxone - £5 million
- Homeopathy items- £92,412
- Herbal medicines - £100,009
- Liothyronine - £34.8 million
- Doxazosin modified release - £7.8 million
- Perindopril arginine - £0.5 million
- Fentanyl immediate release - £10.9 million
- Tadalafil once daily - £11.5 million
- Trimipramine- £19.8 million
- Paracetamol and tramadol combination product - £2 million
- Travel vaccines - £4.5 million
