§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines his Department has issued in the past 10 years in respect of(a) over-prescribing and (b) under-prescribing by general practitioners; and if he will place in the Library a copy of all such guidelines currently in force.
§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley[holding answer 5 July 1990]: The Department spends around £2.2 million each year in providing free of charge to all national health service doctors a variety of professional publications which contain information about drugs and advice on prescribing. These include "British National Formulary", "Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin" and "Prescribers' Journal". In addition, from April 1990, family practitioner committees have taken over from the Department's regional medical service responsibility for giving advice to practices on prescribing.