Shropshire health bosses 'rationing sex' for men needing pill help
Limits on tablets similar to Viagra have been imposed by health chiefs in the county, it was revealed today.
The limits have led to NHS chiefs in charge of spending Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin's share of the healthcare budget being accused of "rationing" the amount of sex men with impotence problems can have.
Both Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin's Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are continuing to impose limits on the number of generic unbranded versions of Viagra – called sildenafil - that GPs can prescribe men with erectile dysfunction, despite a Department of Health decision to lift restrictions on who can be prescribed the drug on the NHS.
News of the policy, kept by several CCGs across the country, led to Dr Martin Duerden, who advises the Royal College of General Practitioners, and is a GP in Conwy, Wales, questioning whether GPs should be expected to "ration" the treatment.
But following the comments, a spokesman for both CCGs said: "The guidance offered by the CCGs on the prescription of sildenafil remains unchanged."
They have told doctors to prescribe no more than one a week to each patient they see, even though sildenafil are now cheap, with a four-pill pack costing the NHS just £1.45, or 36p a tablet. The prices have plummeted in the past year since Viagra-maker Pfizer lost its patent.
As a result, the Department of Health recently scrapped rules on prescribing sildenafil, so the vast majority of men with erectile dysfunction problems can get it on the NHS.
But that decision appears to have worried Telford health managers fighting to balance the books.
Updated advice issued by NHS Telford & Wrekin CCG, written after the Department of Health's decision, reads: "In light of the pressure on NHS budgets, patients who are eligible for NHS treatment should be prescribed the lowest effective dose, with a maximum frequency of dosing of one tablet per week (ie four tablets per month)."
Chiefs quoted a Health Service Circular statement which says: "Prescribers may also wish to bear in mind that some treatments for impotence have been found to have a 'street value' for men who consider, rightly or wrongly, that these treatments will enhance their sexual performance and that excessive prescribing could therefore lead to unlicensed, unauthorised and possibly dangerous use of these treatments."
Such notes are only advisory, however, as GPs are free to prescribe what they like based on what they think is best for the patient.
Dr Duerden also asked whether the cost concerns are valid.
He said: "Can we ration sex in this way?
"Prescriptions for sildenafil have no restrictions and each person should be assessed as individuals – some will need more, some less."
