Posted by ed_uk2010 on July 5, 2010, at 15:38:07
In reply to Re: What's up for 10 years from now? » europerep, posted by zonked on July 5, 2010, at 10:03:06
>Always wondered how the NHS handled prescriptions--is everything formulary? (Ie are there some drugs that NHS won't cover even with gratuitous pdoc bitching, that you have to pay for out of pocket?
A very wide range of medicines (both licensed and unlicensed), medical devices, dressings and food items (eg. gluten free , nutritional supplements etc) are available on NHS prescription. Nevertheless, most doctors (including psychiatrists) tend to stick to the meds recommended by the local or national formulary. Generic usage is very high and new drugs take time to gain acceptance. There are many NHS prescribing guidelines to which doctors adhere to to a varying extent.
In short, there are very few medicines which strictly cannot be prescribed on the NHS. There is, however, a tendency to use older more established meds in preference to expensive new brands. Some doctors may refuse to prescribe certain expensive products. This does not normally mean that they cannot prescribe them, it's more a case of them being advised not to prescribe certain products so they don't.
poster:ed_uk2010
thread:953351
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100628/msgs/953394.html