BMJ  2008;336:406 (23 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.39489.635556.BE

Letters

PPRS

Not dead yet

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Claxton et al boldly state that the current Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) is dead.1 Would that were so.

The PPRS is rooted in the past and fails both to deliver its stated objectives and to reflect the realities of the modern NHS and the modern pharmaceutical industry. When I was head of the PPRS branch in the Department of Health 15 years ago I argued that with the introduction of prescribing budgets the scheme was no longer necessary or appropriate. With practice based commissioning the case for fundamental reform is now unanswerable.

The government plans to consult shortly on likely changes to the scheme, and to implement those changes by July. What the consultation document will say remains confidential, but all the indications are that the focus will be on a quick fix now (consisting of a mandatory price cut accompanied by cosmetic changes) coupled with a promise to . . . [Full text of this article]

Jim Furniss, consultant

1 Bridgehead International, Pera Innovation Park, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire LE13 0PB

jim.furniss@bridgehead.com


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Relevant Article

Value based pricing for NHS drugs: an opportunity not to be missed?
Karl Claxton, Andrew Briggs, Martin J Buxton, Anthony J Culyer, Christopher McCabe, Simon Walker, and Mark J Sculpher
BMJ 2008 336: 251-254. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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