§ 32. Mr. Mike Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will now introduce legislation to restrict medical practitioners' rights to prescribe hazardous and potentially hazardous drugs on repeat prescriptions.
§ Dr. OwenA doctor's right to prescribe any drug is not restricted under the National Health Service or Medicines Acts though the Committee on Safety of Medicines has in the past advised restricting the production of certain drugs to particular groups of doctors. I have recently, however, asked the Medicines Commission and the Committee on Safety of Medicines to consider whether there is a need for any statutory restraint or changes in procedure relating208W to the prescribing of certain categories of very toxic drugs.
§ 54. Mr. Peter Morrisonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the level of prescription of drugs in general practice.
§ Dr. OwenThe level of prescribing by family doctors in England is currently estimated to cost £295 million for the year 1975–76 and it is expected to grow in real terms at 5 per cent. a year on present bids. The budget is not subject to cash limits and on current trends would be one of the fastest growing sectors in the health and personal social services budget. It is also clearly essential for all who make decisions which contribute to these costs to exercise all possible care and restraint consistent with good therapeutic practice in the use of limited resources. We are therefore trying to develop ways of giving doctors more information about their prescribing patterns and better education in pharmacotherapeutics, and also to develop ways of improving public understanding of the value of drugs and their limitations.