Savings made on the cost of prescriptions for Bradford patients can be targeted towards treating illnesses such as heart disease, the district's drugs advisor said today.

Prescription drugs dispensed in Bradford last year cost the health service about £50 million, said Simon Grant, senior pharmaceutical advisor at Bradford Health Authority.

On average, each person in the district received 12 prescriptions in that period - well above the national average of 10.6.

But Mr Grant said the district had succeeding in keeping the cost of drugs prescribed down. The average cost per prescription item was £8.71, compared with £9.99 nationally.

Mr Grant said new guidelines on treating heart disease would mean more prescribing of expensive drugs to lower blood cholesterol levels in certain patients, so cutting costs in other areas would help with that expenditure. The so-called lipid-lowering drugs can cost up to £500 a year per patient.

GPs prescribed generic drugs - those without brand names, which are cheaper - in about two thirds of prescriptions.

"There are areas where we can reduce costs. If the evidence is there and we can implement that and make cost savings without affecting patient care, we do - it's not purely for cost reasons," he said.

Almost ten per cent of the district's drugs budget goes on items related to stomach problems, such as sickness, ulcers, reflux and indigestion, said Mr Grant.

He works with family doctors to look at the best practice for prescribing.

"Doctors try to reduce the dose so patients have the lowest possible dose to treat symptoms, because the lower the dose the better for the patient, and we get savings that way," he said.

Last year, the cost of prescription drugs in Bradford was on average £104.95 per person, £1.40 less than the national average.

The higher level of prescribing in Bradford reflected the level of deprivation, said Mr Grant. People entitled to free prescriptions would get one from their doctor for an over-the-counter remedy such as paracetamol syrup for children. In more affluent areas, parents would buy it.

In rural areas, where it was a lengthy trip to get to the surgery, people were more likely to buy an over-the-counter drug than have a prescription. Affluent areas such as Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire have the lowest levels of prescribing.