Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of potential savings to the NHS budget of prescribing the most cost-effective inhaler medication to each NHS patient.

No such estimate has been made. We expect clinicians to consider the cost of a medicine in making prescribing decisions but recognise that there may be valid reasons why the prescribing of a higher cost product may sometimes be appropriate to meet the clinical needs of individual patients. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence supports clinically and cost effective prescribing through the production of evidence-based guidance for healthcare professionals.