Keeping tabs on GP prescriptions By Dennis Fowle


AREPORT hasbeenissuedtoshowhow local GP practices over or underspent their budgets for prescribing medications in the 2012/13 year. There are fourMaidstone surgeries in the


top six formaking savings,with Yalding the biggest overspender. The Maidstone underspenders included College Road (£225,157), Northumberland Road (£206.970), King Street (£192,096) and Bearsted (£168,024). The biggest overspenders were Yalding (£168,289), Queens Road (£92,403) and Aylesford (£80,267). The table shows results for all 62 GP prac-


tices in the new West Kent Clinical Com- missioning Group, where the doctors now


INanattempt torestrictNHScosts, local doctors are to be monitored on hospital use by their patients. This will be done by the new GP-


led West Kent Clinical Commis- sioning Group. There will be three focus areas:


 Outpatient referrals;  emergency admissions;  A&E attendances. The group says: “Practices are re-


quired to undertake internal re- views and meet peers to discuss outcomes, common themes and commissioning intentions.” Practices will also have to audit


their use of various forms of care, including lower back pain, palpita-


hold the purse strings for most of the area’s NHS spend. It coversMaidstone, Tonbridge and TunbridgeWells areas. Answering a question posed by the Downs Mail at the June meeting, chairman Dr Bob Bowes explained there was a for- mula for setting a budget for every practice, and this included the required level of more expensive drugs. He sees the role of his group to help sup-


port practices meet their budgets, and indi- cated they would be looking at underspends as well as overspends. “Potentially it is a solvable problem,” he


said. Dr Bowes added later: “In prescribing medication, we aim to ensure patients get the best for their condition with least risk


tions, heart fibrillations, falls, end- of-life care and sudden attacks of breathing difficulties. Practice achievement is to be monitored by panel members, and the group will invite practices to specify any educational or training needs to support doctors. It will also ask if patient requests


to them, but making good use of NHS money. One way is prescribing unbranded drugs where possible, which are as clini- cally effective as branded drugs but signifi- cantly cheaper. “Prescribing amounts to 14% of our budget and GPs’ responsibility is to ensure this is spent wisely, to avoid eating in to money for other services. Sometimes it is difficult to work within budgets, and budget-setting methodology is not fool- proof.”  Of the 62 practices, 23 overspent last


year. The totalWest Kent returns showed an underspend of £1,857,600 (2.84%) for Feb- ruary and £1,788,010 (2.74%) for March. The full year budget for 2012/13 topped £65m, with an underspend of 2.74%.


Helping GPs toe patient care lines Village fete draws the crowds DESPITE the poor weather, therewasalarge turnout for Otham Village Fete. Afteranovercaststart,


for same-day appointments are met, if clinical triage by telephone is undertaken, if open access to a clinic is available or if patients are told to telephone for a set time. The policy is to encourage as


much care as possible in GP sur- geries or near a patient’s home to avoid costly hospital admissions.


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