Antibiotics Mr. Lansley To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the (a) total consumption of antibiotics in the NHS and (b) net cost to the NHS of prescribing antibiotics in each year since 1997. Caroline Flint Most antibiotics are classified under sections 5.1, 11.3.1 and 13.10.1 of the British National Formulary. Information on antibiotics dispensed in the community in England is provided in the table on this basis. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Prescription items (thousand)|Net ingredient cost (£000)| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1997 |51,686.3 |185,393.2 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1998 |47,655.0 |176,280.7 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1999 |43,548.9 |190,385.6 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2000 |41,728.2 |185,233.6 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2001 |42,840.2 |176,460.3 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2002 |41,678.3 |177,952.9 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2003 |42,446.0 |182,721.9 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2004 |41,335.5 |184,715.0 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2005 |41,916.8 |174,949.3 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2006 |41,639.1 |184,941.5 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Source: Prescription Cost Analysis system| | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The national health service also makes considerable use of antibiotics (systemic antibacterials) in hospitals. The estimated cost for the years available is shown in the table. ------------------------------------------------------------------ | |Estimated cost (£000)| ------------------------------------------------------------------ |2001 |186,592.7 | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |2002 |203,664.8 | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |2003 |221,229.1 | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |2004 |236,305.6 | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |2005 |228,304.0 | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Source:IMS HEALTH: Hospital Pharmacy Audit| | ------------------------------------------------------------------