Potential Generic Savings Report - Background Information

The Generic Savings Reports is produced at National, HA, PCG and practice level to show the potential saving of generic prescribing. The report is produced automatically in July to cover the previous financial year, and in December to cover the latest twelve months for which data is available. The National report is produced for England. Health Authority reports are produced for all Health Authorities (HA) in England. Primary Care Group reports are produced for all Primary Care Groups (PCGs) in England. Practice level reports are produced for all practices within the HA's, even if no potential savings are identified. The HA, PCG and Practice level reports can be accessed by identified Medical and Pharmaceutical Advisors in the relevant HA. The HA and PCG reports can also be accessed by identified advisors within the Regional Office for information purposes. The National report can be accessed by the Prescribing Support Unit and by the Principle Pharmaceutical Officer.All National, HA, PCG and Practice reports contain the following data :

a title indicating the Organisational Unit and the Reporting Period
a sub-heading containing summary totals for the total cost of all prescribing and total % generic saving for the organisational unit
Proprietary Item description
Generic Item description
number of items prescribed
quantity of proprietary items prescribed
total proprietary cost of the proprietary items prescribed
total generic cost if the generic equivalent had been substituted
potential saving between the proprietary and generic total prices
percentage of the saving
end totals for total proprietary cost, total generic cost and total potential savings

All National, HA, PCG and practice reports will :

exclude any item from the report if the generic saving over the reporting period is less than £5.00
have the generic substitution applied for all proprietary items (preparation class = 3) where the equivalent generic item is a preparation class 1, except where
1. the equivalent generic is withdrawn or obsolete
2. the equivalent generic has no average unit price
3. the proprietary presentation is not suitable for substitution
4. the generic presentation is not easily available for substitution
5. the item is GN endorsed (ie. has been generically prescribed but the dispenser has dispensed and been reimbursed for a proprietary item)

The Practice report will :

include identified prescribing within the named practice only
display the top 20 presentations by amount of potential saving within the practice
still be produced even if no generic savings over £5.00 are identified

The HA report will :

include prescribing within the named HA only (include prescribing which is unidentified at practice level but identifiable to a HA)
display the top 30 presentations by amount of potential saving within the HA (to be calculated independently of the practices)

The PCG report will :

include prescribing within the named PCG only (include prescribing which is unidentified at practice level but identifiable to a PCG)
display the top 30 presentations by amount of potential saving within the PCG (to be calculated independently of the practices)

The National report will :

include English prescribing only (include prescribing which is unidentified at practice or HA level but identifiable at National level)
display the top 40 presentations by amount of potential saving nationally (to be calculated independently of the HAs or practices)