Press release: Scottish NHS Confederation welcomes Audit Scotland's report on supporting prescribing in general practice
26 Jun 2003
The Scottish NHS Confederation has welcomed the findings of Audit Scotland's report into prescribing and has called for a transparent debate involving all stakeholders on how to balance the competing financial pressures of prescribing and delivering other services.
Hilary Robertson the Director of the Scottish NHS Confederation said: " We welcome the contribution this report has made to the debate on the impact of prescribing costs on NHS budgets. The Confederation has been calling for a transparent debate involving all stakeholders on how the competing financial pressures of prescribing and service delivery can be balanced. The report's acknowledgement of an improvement in prescribing quality and the benefits for patient care is very welcome. We also welcome the report's recognition of the significant cost implications for primary care prescribing because of implementing the national guidelines. Unless extra resources are available to support increases in prescribing, the challenge for the NHS is to decide how to fund the drugs budget without reducing other services."
Ms Robertson continued: "This report comes at a time when there is a debate on the implications of increasing prescribing costs, I hope its findings will make a major contribution to addressing the need to strike the right balance between increasing prescribing and delivering other quality services in the NHS".
Ends
Notes for editors
.
Contact details
- Contact Media Relations Manager Joanna Clason on 020 7074 3306 or 07798 571078 or Senior Media Officer Amy Darlington on 020 7074 3304 or 07767 770309. For out of hours media enquiries, please call the Duty Press Officer on 07880 500726.
Back to media centre
