Over-prescribing may be partly responsible for the NHS’s soaring medicines bill, health secretary Matt Hancock has said.

He ordered a review into the issue, appointing chief pharmaceutical officer Dr Keith Ridge to lead it.

The government is hoping to reduce the 5% annual increase in the cost of prescribing – which has led spending on drugs to increase from £13 billion to £18 billion this decade.

The review will investigate the extent of “problematic polypharmacy” – when patients are taking an unnecessary amount of multiple medicines.

It will also investigate the link between primary and secondary care to see if GPs can be given more data to enable them to question prescriptions issued by hospitals.

There could also be new ways to manage repeat prescriptions that are not subject to review.

Mr Hancock suggested that social prescribing could also be an alternative to drugs. He said “Poorly managed prescribing can lead to serious issues for patients such as increased admissions to hospital or antibiotic resistance.

“As we invest an extra £20.5 billion a year into our NHS we want to empower doctors and pharmacists to use the data available to ensure patients get the medicines they need and stop taking those that no longer benefit them.

“We also need to back our GPs to move towards alternatives such as social prescribing, so we can offer more tailored healthcare that focuses on prevention to stop people from becoming ill in the first place – improving care and reducing the burden on the NHS.”

Dr Ridge said: “Doctors, pharmacists and patients need to work together to ensure people are on the right medicines, for the right amount of time.

“NHS England’s recent successes in reducing unnecessary antibiotics and medicines with care homes and GP practices, on polypharmacy, and on beginning to end over-medication for people with learning disabilities, all show what can be – and indeed now is being – done on this important topic.”