Open consultation Consultation on Valuing Medicines - A Strategy for the Sustainable Use of Medicines in Northern Ireland

Summary

The purpose of this consultation is to seek feedback on the draft Valuing Medicines Strategy for the Sustainable Use of Medicines in Northern Ireland. This will inform further development and finalisation of the strategy ahead of publication.

Documents

• Valuing Medicines Strategy - Consultation Document Adobe PDF (1 MB)
• Valuing Medicines Strategy - Consultation Response Document Microsoft Word (149 KB)
• Valuing Medicines Strategy - Equality Impact Screening Adobe PDF (402 KB)
• Valuing Medicines Strategy - Rural Needs Assessment Adobe PDF (248 KB)

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Consultation description

The Department of Health is seeking views on “Valuing Medicines - A Strategy for the Sustainable Use of Medicines in Northern Ireland”. This consultation will be open for 12 weeks and seeks feedback on the strategy, which will inform further review and finalisation ahead of publication.

Medicines have a vital role in helping to prevent, treat, and cure disease. They are our most common medical intervention and are relied upon to support health and wellbeing throughout life. However, medicines costs in Northern Ireland (NI) are increasing annually and have reached an all-time high of £875 million per year. We need to take action to protect access to medicines for the future.

Despite efforts to improve the efficient use of medicines in NI, our prescribing rates and costs per person remain consistently higher than in other countries within the United Kingdom. Without change, the Health and Social Care (HSC) service will struggle to continue funding expensive new medicines and technologies and keep up with the demand of an increasing and ageing population. Furthermore, the environmental impact of medications is significant, accounting for approximately 25% of carbon emissions within the National Health Service. Prescription medicines cannot be re-used by the HSC after supply to patients, levels of waste are too high, and there is a pressing need to reduce the carbon footprint of medicines and mitigate environmental risks.

The aim of the strategy is to embed sustainable practice into all health and social care settings, promoting a culture that:

• Allows equitable access to appropriate, safe and cost-effective medicines.
• Involves patients in decisions about their medicines, promotes preventive care, and offers options alongside prescribed medicines.
• Reduces waste and the environmental impact of medicines.
• Drives improvement through data, technology, research and innovation.

With this in mind, your thoughts and feedback on the recommendations within this strategy are very important in helping to ensure the sustainable use of medicines and embed a culture of valuing medicines within our population and the HSC.

Your views can be submitted by completing the online survey. We would prefer responses using Citizen Space, however, if you wish to send an email or hard copy you should complete the consultation response document and submit your response using the correspondence details below.