Optimising FP10 prescribing and reducing associated expenditure in the Emergency Department (ED)
Background: FP10 prescriptions are routinely used to provide Emergency Department (ED) patients with urgent medication at discharge. The benefit of speeding up discharge comes with a cost impact on the Trust and the wider NHS (1).
Method: Retrospective study of three months’ worth of FP10 data (April – June 2025). ED data was filtered and analysed in Excel looking at high-cost items, the top 5 most prescribed medication available as TTA prepacks, medication available over the counter (OTC) i.e. no prescription needed and inappropriate prescribing from the ED.
Results: 7651 FP10 items reviewed. The average monthly expenditure was £14 393 . The analysis showed that 81.9% (6200 out of 7651) of the FP10 items could have been provided through an alternate method: 4,866 via TTA packs (at a lower cost than FP10 pricing), 683 via OTC purchase, and 593 via GP prescribing. “Unnecessary” high-cost FP10s totalled £9,925 over three months, accounting for 33.82% of medication costs. Ondansetron oro-dispersible tablets represented only 1% of prescription volume but nearly 12% of total FP10 spend. Large-quantity and long-course prescriptions were prescribed by ED despite being more suitable for primary care continuation. Data extrapolation suggested potential annual savings of approximately £61,572 (35.65% reduction in FP10 expenditure).
Interventions: Education of the ED team commenced. Posters to consider non-FP10 options implemented.
Conclusion: Focus to reduce spend and quantity of FP10's should be on quality and appropriateness of prescribing. The changes underway are expected to deliver sustained reductions in expenditure with a re-audit planned.

