Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘There are big pressures’: High-cost hospital drugs hammer NHS Grampian finances

The health board is battling a £60m shortfall.

Caroline Hiscox has spoken about the pressures NHS Grampian is currently under. Image: Paul Glendell/ DC Thomson
Caroline Hiscox has spoken about the pressures NHS Grampian is currently under. Image: Paul Glendell/ DC Thomson

NHS Grampian finance chiefs say soaring drug costs are contributing to a cash crisis.

A paper explaining the body’s finances went before members of the board yesterday, with grim warnings about the year ahead.

Even though chiefs managed to balance the books in the last financial year, they have admitted that major challenges lie ahead.

What is to blame for NHS Grampian’s financial woes?

It has been estimated that the health board faces a £60m black hole over the next year.

Assistant director of finance Alan Sharp yesterday explained that multiple factors were to blame.

But he noted that inflationary pressures were a “significant” contributor, particularly costs for energy, drugs and medical supplies.

d Image: Shutterstock
Increasing drug prices have hit the NHS hard. Image: Shutterstock

Mr Sharp also told board members that a number of one-off measures used to help balance the books last year will not be available again.

Why are rising drug costs causing concern in NHS Grampian?

The increasing cost of drugs raised some worries with board members.

Dennis Robertson asked if any work was going on with drug companies to find a way to reduce prices.

Mr Sharp told him that conversations about drug costs were ongoing at both a UK and Scotland level, after rumours of a two-tier system for prescriptions made headlines last year.

Former Aberdeenshire councillor Dennis Robertson is an NHS Grampian board member. Image: Kenny Elrick

He said: “There is a national UK wide scheme which regulates the costs of some very high-cost hospital drugs.

“That’s currently being reviewed by the Westminster Government who are in negotiations with the pharmaceutical companies.”

‘A lot of upward pressure on drug costs’

He added: “There are also big pressures on costs around the drugs which GPs prescribe at the moment and they particularly impact on our health and social care partnerships.

“A lot of that is just down to inflationary pressures of the cost of raw materials and labour, which has gone up across the world and not helped by the conflict in Ukraine.

“There are discussions ongoing, but there’s still a lot of upward pressure on our drug costs at the moment.”

High cost hospital drugs are making a bad situation worse for north-east health bosses. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

How much do prescriptions cost NHS Grampian?

The latest figures, from February 2023, show that north-east GPs prescribed 806,883 items at a cost of nearly £10.2m that month alone.

Omeprazole tops the table as the most common drug issued to patients.

It is used to treat heartburn and indigestion.

Paracetamol was the second most prescribed medication.

Paracetamol is often prescribed to patients, even though it can be bought over the counter

NHS Grampian’s most prescribed medications and their total costs in February 2023:

  • Omeprazole (29,516) – £157,365
  • Paracetamol (14,368) – £53,018
  • Aspirin (10,912) – £17,890
  • Salbutamol inhaler (10,474) – £19,466
  • Amlodipine (9,652) – £12,512
  • Atorvastatin (8,820) – £14,862
  • Levothyrox (8,724) – £15,713
  • Ramipril (8,348) – £17,737
  • Amoxicillin (8,077) – £28,925
  • Sertraline (7,271) – £11,745

What will NHS Grampian do to plug the £60m gap?

Chief executive of NHS Grampian, Professor Caroline Hiscox said the financial position is an “absolutely critical” part of its decision-making.

Professor Caroline Hiscox, Chief Executive of NHS Grampian. Image: Paul Glendell

She added: “That requires us to think about the longer term and to be really clear and transparent about why and how we are making our decisions,” she explained.

It comes after Scottish Government funding in March helped relieve some pressure, along with staff using up annual leave carried on from the previous year.

NHS Grampian will work closely with integration joint boards and local councils in a bid to try and find potential savings.

Conversation