LONDON, January 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Responding to today's publication of the second report into Prescribing Costs in Primary Care, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) supports the continued effort by healthcare professionals to reduce inappropriate prescribing.

RPSGB Director of Practice and Quality Improvement, David Pruce, says:

"What this report addresses is the unnecessary waste of medication and the associated cost to the NHS."

"Pharmacists already play an important role in helping to manage prescribing costs. Pharmaceutical advisers employed by Primary Care Trusts advise GPs about good prescribing practice and give GPs vital feedback about their prescribing compared with the national and local average."

"There are a number of other ways that pharmacists can help address this problem. Repeat dispensing services have the potential to reduce waste by millions of pounds. The roll out of repeat dispensing needs to be accelerated."

"Some of the waste of medicines is associated with patients failing to take prescribed medicines. The reasons for this are complex and unlikely to be addressed by simply putting the price of the medicine on the box. It often has more to do with how the patient sees their illness, whether they have side effects, etc. Pharmacists can contribute to a reduction of this waste by reviewing their patients - by making sure they are happy with the medication they are taking, assessing whether they still need to be taking the same quantities of medication and by discussing with them any concerns or problems they may have."

"This analysis is the basis of Medication Use Reviews which are being conducted by pharmacists across England & Wales."

"There are no quick fixes for this. We need to work together as pharmacists, GPs and health service managers to implement best practice."

For media enquiries please contact the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain's Public Relations Unit +44(0)20-7572-2335