The number of medical prescriptions rose by almost 4% to almost 1.77 million last year at a cost of £20.4m., an increase of more than £1.1m. on 2023.

The information was released in the States’ Prescribing Support Unit annual report for 2024, which presented a detailed analysis of prescribing trends, financial activity, and medicines optimisation work.

The cost of endocrine drugs, medications that treat conditions caused by hormone inbalances, rose by more than 16% to more than £2.7m.

The report said that the largest increase in expenditure was for types of ‘GLP-1 agonist drugs’. These drugs mimic natural gut hormones to help manage type 2 diabetes and obesity by promoting insulin release, reducing appetite, and slowing digestion.

The report said that the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the Bailiwick was influenced by lifestyle factors, including inappropriate diet, obesity and lack of physical activity.

It is feared these costs could continue to grow, with the Medical Officer of Health Report for 2023-2024 estimating that prevalence of the condition could increase by 18% over the next 20 years.

Prescribing adviser Geraldine O’Riordan said that PSU pharmacists had achieved significant savings in 2024 through medicines optimisation and cost-containment projects.

‘A combined £385,000 was saved through targeted deprescribing and the savings via rebates,’ she said. ‘This meant that the cost of new NICE TA drugs to HSC was reduced by £2m. in 2024. Public engagement in reducing waste by crossing off 139,859 unwanted items on prescription forms saved a further significant sum.’

The report also identified further cost savings as rebates and discounts totalling £976,000 were recovered in community dispensing of high-cost drugs, with additional discounts reducing hospital dispensing costs by 40%.

Prescription charges paid by islanders amounted to just over £3m., up more than 14% on 2023.

The average drug cost per prescription item dispensed in 2024 was £11.85, 1.9% up on 2023 when it was £11.63.

The PSU first started gathering data in the year 2000. At that time the cost per prescription item was £10.42.