An NHS trust has been heavily criticised for drafting plans to freeze spending on drugs for Alzheimer's patients living in care homes.

East Sussex County Healthcare Trust had a half a million pound overspend in its drugs budget in 2003/4 and in May drew up a number of options to cut spending on anticholinesterase drugs such as Eisai and Pfizer's Aricept.

Among the options to be considered was a three-month moratorium on the assessment of people with the disease for drug treatment; another would have seen people living at home take priority for the limited budget while those in care homes would be denied access.

The Alzheimer Society called the plans a 'public scandal' and has written to the Department of Health and NICE to ask what action will be taken to stop the plans. The Trust has responded by saying it has already rejected the plan to discriminate between patients in care and those in their own homes, but has defended the review of anti-dementia drug spending, which it says was the single largest area of prescribing spend in the last financial year.

Dr Hamid Naliyawala, the Trust's medical director said: "The Trust has no plans for limiting necessary treatment for people with dementia. However, it is believed that if time were spent on reviewing existing patients who are receiving anti-dementia medication, that a number could be and indeed should be, discontinued.

"Clearly, if medication were to be withdrawn it would be done fully in accord with good clinical practice."

The Trust says talks with GPs to agree joint prescribing protocols across the county are now progressing as are discussions with local PCTs on future funding of the Trust's drug budget.

An extra £195,000 has already been made available by PCTs for this financial year, but the Trust's overall financial problem requires savings of £4.8 million.

A survey by TNS in June found just 21% of the UK's Alzheimer's patients eligible for drug treatment received it, compared to 56% in Spain, 73% in Italy and 77% in France.

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