Key facts

• while the cost of prescribing in primary care rose by 3.2 per cent the estimated cost of drugs (using standard price lists) used in hospitals rose by 7.7 per cent
• medicines prescribed in hospital but dispensed in the community rose by 6.4 per cent in cost
• medicines issued in hospital represented 23.8 per cent of the total cost of medicines, which was £10.3 billion
• many of the of the drugs positively appraised by NICE are only used in a hospital setting (e.g. abciximab).

Summary

This bulletin presents data on the use of drugs in hospitals and in the community both overall and for selected areas of prescribing, including drugs positively appraised by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.