The costs of primary care prescribing dispensed in the community rose by less than one per cent (0.74 per cent) during 2021/22, new NHS data shows.

Prescribing Costs in Hospitals and the Community – England 2021/22 | NHSBSA shows that primary care prescribing costs rose at the lowest level of all settings covering hospital prescribing dispensed in the community (+3.38 pc), hospital prescribing within hospitals (+16.77pc) and dental prescribing in the community (+28.25pc).

In actual cost terms, prescribing costs of primary care rose to £8.89bn, compared to £85m for hospital prescriptions and £29m of dental prescriptions dispensed in the community

In 2021/22, the BNF section with the highest spend across all settings was Chapter 8 – Malignant Disease and Immunosuppression (£3.11bn when using Net Ingredient Cost (NIC), or 16.9 per cent of the total spend. Of this spend, £2.95 billion was for medicines issued and dispensed in hospitals.

The average costs per capita when using NIC for items dispensed in the community for medicines, appliances, and medical devices prescribed in England in 2021/22 across all settings was £324. This is an increase of 7.6pc (23) from 2020/21.