Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2016 to Question 51758, what discussions he has had with representatives of GPs to encourage them to prescribe non-branded drugs wherever possible; and if he will make a statement.

We have had no such discussions. It has long been the Department’s policy to encourage the prescribing of drugs by their generic name, both for reasons of good professional practice and because of the opportunities for more effective use of National Health Service resources. 84.1% of prescriptions dispensed in the community in 2015 were prescribed generically.

Responsibility for prescribing rests with the doctor who has clinical responsibility for that particular aspect of a patient's care. Prescribing can be influenced in a number of ways, but ultimately the decision on what to prescribe is made by the prescriber after an informed discussion with their patient. There is nothing to prevent branded prescribing if a clinician considers it essential for a patient to receive a specific product.