October sees World Mental Health Day marked and recognised across the globe. The overall objective of the day is to raise awareness of mental health issues and mobilise efforts in support of better mental health. This year’s focus? Mental health in the workplace.
Globally, the WHO reports, “more than 300 million people suffer from depression, the leading cause of disability. More than 260 million are living with anxiety disorders. Many of these people live with both.
The rising costs of mental health disorders
A recent WHO-led study estimates that depression and anxiety disorders cost the global economy US$ 1 trillion each year in lost productivity.” That’s no small sum.
The Guardian reports that 2016 saw the NHS prescribing “a record number of antidepressants, fuelling an upward trend that has seen the number of pills given to patients more than double over the last decade.” (The Guardian)
To demonstrate this, our analysis of the current tariff increase – due to temporary supply issues – of the generic antipsychotic drug Quetiapine (IR) in the UK, shows just how volatile the NHS’s bill for mental health can be.
At-a-glance MarketView analytics
Our interrogative analytics of NHS GP Prescribing Data reveals that the monthly cost to the NHS of Quetiapine (IR)s has risen by over £12M per month in June and July. This ‘temporary’ price concession is still in place now, so the 5 months to October will result in a £50M+ extraordinary cost to the NHS, from just one drug. To put this in context the cost of protecting the whole country from flu with the ‘flu jab’ – costs the NHS around £100M per year.
Inspiremed’s rapid-fire analysis provides valuable insights from NHS and IMS prescription data at the touch of a button. And presents findings in clear easy-to-analyse visualisation dashboards like the one we picture here.
Drill down to key data sets, remove the complexities of data analysis and drive effective sales and marketing activities with real time data.
