NHS England has issued a new guidance scrapping seven medicines from its prescriptions list, estimating to save around £141 million a year.
Among the treatments are hypertension medication aliskiren, minocycline for acne and emollient bath and shower preparations for dry and pruritic skin conditions.
Diabetics are also directly affected, as the decision includes needles for pre-filled and reusable insulin pens that cost more than £5 per 100 needles, and blood glucose testing strips for Type II diabetes.
The governing body announced that it discarded certain items as they are of “low clinical effectiveness”, such as amiodarone, dronedarone and silk garments.
Other items, however, were replaced by more cost-effective products where available, such as aliskiren and insulin needles.
The full list of medicines no longer available on prescription is:
- aliskiren
- amiodarone
- dronedarone
- minocycline for acne
- needles for pre-filled and reusable insulin pens that cost more than £5 per 100 needles
- emollient bath and shower preparations for dry and pruritic skin conditions
- silk garments.
The items are part of an initial larger list of 18 items released in 2017, which included homeopathy, fentanyl immediate-release, some travel vaccines and perindopril.
