How to save the NHS millions by stopping taking the piss - literally

Simply brilliant anon

It's a shame Dr Copp has too much sense and too little patience to enter politics! Gareth Lloyd

Good stuff, every LMC should have a copy of this! Samar Pankanti

How about ask every Acute Trust in the land to send us the important letters within the timescale specified in the contract i.e. Discharge Letters within 24 hours and Out- Patient letters withn 48 hours? Imagine how many pointless consultations could be saved if we only had the letters. Peter Crouch

I think you already sit on my consortium executive... Peter Weaving

Being a nurse (shock horror) I actually agree with Copperfield. But how about scrapping exemptions for people, I have a dodgy thyroid so get everything free. Why not just my thyroxine? Make specific drugs free and not people exempt from paying. It does mean that you might have to pay for Johnnies nit lotion but hey what's a script charge less than a packet of cigarettes!!!!! Ruth Wright

Completely agree with the laws with regards to medicine returns and destruction. A quick tot up of what was thrown in the bins for October amounted to £4,400 - and I'm a tea-shop sized community pharmacy. Nearly all tablets were sealed and clean.
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The Copperfield Think Tank should be a protected official body. Raj Jain

Stop prescribing statins for 90yr olds.
Catherine Vass

Increase the price of cigarettes until they are virtually unaffordable to the vast majority of people. This would greatly reduce the incidence of most chronic diseases and hence the drugs and care bill. It would go a long way to reducing health inequalities amongst social classes, and would lift many people out of poverty. We could also get rid of the internal market. Dr Fester

Speaking as a nursie, stop docies from prescribing a zillion inhalers that the patient doesn't know how, why or when to use. Easy. Helen Kirk

Completely agree - don't waste medicines, don't destroy returned medicines. And.... we already have hospital prescribing policies in place but doctor's still never review PPIs, or analgesia, prescribe more expensive formulations of drugs, list goes on and on... Reenal Khakhar

Since this is such common sense - why can't we do any of it?
Sarah Bennett

Tried stopping most of these for many years, but a little like holding back the tide; a one man sea wall inevitably gets very cold and wet and looks very silly. Ask King Canute. philip crosby

You know those medicine use review reports that pharmacists like me send you and you never read, many of my patients don't know why they are on PPI's so my MUR reports suggest a review. Some patients need telling that they must take what has been prescribed but many are still takings meds for conditions that have resolved or could be treated PRN.
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By the way if it is PRN, limit the quantity so that it cannot be taken every day regardless of symptoms... 28 zopiclone every month with a dose of "no more than three nights a week" is a favorite. david wayles