READING has placed 11th in a list of NHS care boards paying least for prescriptions in a new survey.
Figures released by NHSDiscountOffers.co.uk show that patients in the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB) are among those spending the least on their prescription costs annually.
The study analysed data from the NHS Business Services Authority, comparing individual costs to the average paid within the relevant care board.
It found that patients under the BOB care board paid £138 in total on average in the 2022-2023 financial year, almost £30 less than the national average.
This means Reading patients pay the 11th least for their prescriptions yearly.
Those in Hertfordshire and West Essex also pay £138 yearly, in ninth, and North West London placed in eighth, where patients pay just £136.
Londoners paid the least, with the South East, North Central, South West, and North East London care boards ranking least spent to fourth least spent respectively.
This means that four of the five cheapest care boards are in London, representing five of the cheapest 10.
The rest of the cheapest 10 were rounded out by Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes; Frimley; and Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
The care board with the most spent per person was Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, at £332 spent per patient annually– double the average rate across the UK
Herefordshire and Worcestershire ranked second most expensive, followed by West Yorkshire in third, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in fourth, and Nottinghamshire in fifth.
Steve Bater, spokesman at NHSDiscountOffers.co.uk, said of the findings: “The data highlights the substantial investment in prescription costs across various NHS regions, while the national figure gives a perspective into the total amounts that the state makes available to do so.”
He also noted that nine out of ten ICBs with the highest spending per person on the list are also in the top 20 areas with the highest demand for medication per person.
“This suggests that areas that invest the most in prescriptions often have to do so because of the higher prescription volumes or due to the higher cost of the medicines they are investing in, potentially indicating a greater prevalence of chronic conditions or more comprehensive healthcare coverage in these regions.
The figures reflect the NHS’s commitment to ensuring access to necessary medications for communities, supporting public health and its people, and providing an enhanced level of well-being for individuals throughout England.”
More information is available via: NHSDiscountOffers.co.uk
