§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the secretary of state for Social Services what steps he takes to inform doctors of 458W the results of his monitoring of the quantities and prices of drugs prescribed in hospitals and by family practitioners; and if he has any plans to seek to control the use of particular drugs by doctors.
§ Dr. VaughanAll general medical practitioners are sent a brief analysis of their own prescribing each year: a much more detailed analysis is provided to doctors who request it or whose prescribing costs are particularly high. The Department has encouraged the spread of local multidisciplinary drug and therapeutics committees and this is having an increasing influence on the prescribing of medicinal products in hospitals. For example, locally agreed prescribing policies and formularies are assisting the rational and economic use of drugs. All prescribing doctors in the National Health Service are sent regular charts showing the comparative costs of various drugs.
The prescribing of certain drugs is already subject to control under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 or the Medicines Act 1968. We have no plans to introduce further controls.