Poor value for money prescription service axed

The prescription ordering service has been running since 2015

A medicine prescription service is being scrapped because officials say it does not provide value for money.

The NHS Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) service was set up to cut waste and save millions of pounds per year.

However, despite being used by dozens of GP practices in Coventry and Warwickshire it will close at the end of March.

Coventry City Council’s health scrutiny board will discuss the change next week.

The POD service was established in the region in 2015 and takes orders from patients online and over the phone, which are then passed to a GP to be signed-off before going to a pharmacy to be dispensed.

It was estimated the service was saving about £6m per year, according to a council briefing in December 2018.

People ordering from the POD were asked about their existing stock of medicine, helping to reduce waste and reduce stockpiling, the briefing added.

'Operational problems'

It said patients also found the service convenient and reduced GP workloads.

But health bosses are now axing the service, citing a “lack of value for money” as well as worsening performance and operational problems.

They said GP surgeries using the service would go back to dealing directly with repeat prescriptions and be given access to a £200,000 funding pot to help with the change.

A report into the decision has conceded that discontinuing the service could add to GPs’ workload.

“We are clear that this is a time when primary care is already under significant pressure and the ICB is committed to supporting our GP practices to manage any potential issues,” it said.

Patients are set to receive double prescriptions before it ends, so they have enough to cover the early weeks in April, in an effort to reduce the impact on GP services.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.