THE new Airedale Primary care Trust has inherited a 13.7 per cent increase in the cost of prescribing drugs.

The Airedale Primary Care Group, which folded last October, spent about £11.5m on prescribing drugs - almost 16 per cent of the group's total expenditure, trust members were told at a meeting in Ilkley.

Members heard that the trust expected a £468,000 overspend for the year, mainly due to the worsening of the prescribing 'performance'.

Neil Sail, director of finance, said: "Overall, the PCT is forecasting an overspend position of £468,000 for the year.

"This is mainly due to overspend on the prescribing budget and administration and is slightly offset by a small underspend on the general medical services budget."

The PCT adopted a new strategy for keeping checks on prescription spending.

Trust chairman Liz Wostenholme said: "Prescribing is a significant part of our budget and our projected overspend.

"We need a strategy that is

sensitive to patient needs and reflects efficiency and effectiveness in prescribing."

The trust has taken on a prescription support technician to help in administering the strategy.

Jeff Pearse, the PCT Pharmaceutical advisor, said generally the increase in the cost of drugs had been higher than the inflation rate.

There were other factors, which also led to the increasing costs.

New drugs, like the one developed for Alzheimer's, were expensive. He added that more people were living longer and drugs were therefore being used over a longer period.