 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | CASE NOTES
|  | |  | MISSED A PROGRAMME?
Go to the Listen Again page | | | | | | | PROGRAMME INFO | | | |
| | | Dr Mark Porter gives listeners the low-down on what the medical profession does and doesn't know. Each week an expert in the studio tackles a particular topic and there are reports from around the UK on the health of the nation - and the NHS.
| | | | | | Contact Case Notes | | | | | LISTEN AGAIN 30 min | | | |
|
|
|  | PRESENTER | | | |
|  | | | | "I spend half my week practising medicine and the other half writing and talking about it as a GP in Gloucestershire. Working on Case Notes has been a boon for both me and my patients. One of the principal aims of the programme is to keep our listeners up-to-date with the latest developments in healthcare, and to accomplish that I get to interview a wide range of specialists at the cutting edge of medicine. A rare privilege that ensures our listeners aren't the only ones to learn something new."
Mark Porter | | | | |
| | | | | | PROGRAMME DETAILS | | | |
|  | | |
 Full programme transcript >>
Prescribing Drugs
The NHS hands out 750 million prescriptions per year. That's roughly a prescription per month for every person in the country.
Prescribing costs
GP prescribing costs have doubled in the last 10 years and doctors are under increasing pressure to cut back on the number of drugs they prescribe, and to use the cheapest option wherever possible. But is this affecting patient care? Are patients being palmed off with second-rate treatments, or is it simply a case of the NHS getting one over on the pharmaceutical industry by getting the same for less?
NHS
Mark follows the trail of an NHS prescription through the system and finds out that as many as 1 in 5 prescriptions are never redeemed, and around half of those that are, are not taken properly. Hundreds of millions of pounds worth of medicines are being wasted so what is the NHS doing about it?
Can patients help?
The Government may be taking steps to cut the drugs bill but what can the general public do to help themselves? Most doctors and pharmacists think the current rules governing prescription charges are unfair and need urgent reform. Mark discovers why and asks what patients can do themselves to minimise the cost of treating long-term conditions like asthma, high blood pressure and arthritis.
Join Dr Mark Porter Case Notes on Prescribing Drugs on Tuesday 17th August 2004.
Next week
Next week's topic is: Autoimmune diseases - Lupus, Ankylosing Spondylitis and new drugs for Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Department of Health - Prescription Payment Certificate
Information about Prescription Prepayment Certificate and telephone purchase is available by calling 0845 850 0030. There is more information on the Department of Health's website - see 'related links' and search for 'HC11'.
| | |
RELATED LINKS
Department of Health - HC11
British Dermatological Nursing Group
National Patient Safety Agency
Patient UK
National Prescribing Centre
Consumers' Association
BBC News - Prescription Drugs Over-used
Net Doctor
NHS Direct
BBC Health News
BBC Health
BBC Webguide - Health
Dr Foster
Telegraph Health
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites
| |
| | |
|
