§ 12. Mrs. Knightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what progress has been made in the campaign to reduce wastage of drugs in hospitals.
§ Mr. MoyleMany hospitals have now established drugs and therapueutics committees whose tasks include the more economic use of drugs. Representatives of these committees met recently to discuss how best to fulfil these functions. The announcement on prescribing which the chairman of council of the BMA and my right hon. Friend issued jointly in April should have stimulated all doctors to seek ways of applying its principles to their particular fields of practice.
§ Mrs. KnightIs it not a fact that the amount of money spent on drugs in the Health Service is still rising steeply and that the most recently available figure is £87 million per annum? Is the right hon. Gentleman expecting that, as a result of the measures which he has just mentioned, that figure will be cut as substantially as those working in the NHS say that it could be?
§ Mr. MoyleI will have to have notice in order to give the hon. Lady the exact figure, but certainly the expenditure on drugs in the Health Service is higher than we should like. We expect that the measures announced will lead to economies.
§ Mr. PavittWhy did my right hon. Friend reject the advice in the drugs therapeutic bulletin that I sent him, which would not only have saved wastage on drugs but would probably have cut the excess profits of drug companies by about £50 million to £60 million?
§ Mr. MoyleI would draw my hon. Friend's attention to the fact that the pharmaceutical price regulating scheme mechanism limits the profits which companies can make on drugs.