Children as young as four could be offered tablets as part of NHS cost-cutting drive – UK Times

The NHS could save tens of thousands of pounds per patient each year by prescribing tablets instead of liquid medicine to children with a particular medical condition, experts have revealed.

Researchers at Great Ormond Street Hospital (Gosh) found that patients as young as seven were not only able to successfully transition to pills but often expressed a clear preference for them over the taste of their liquid medicine.

The study focused on children suffering from congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI), a condition characterised by elevated insulin levels that necessitate regular, often multiple daily, doses of diazoxide to maintain stable blood sugar.

Until now, this vital treatment has predominantly been administered in liquid form, with liquid diazoxide costing a significant £15.50 per 50mg.

Following these promising findings, Gosh academics are now planning further assessments to determine if even younger patients, specifically those aged four, can also successfully make the switch to the more cost-effective tablet alternative.

Tablet diazoxide costs just £1.15 per 50mg.

Experts have estimated that switching from liquid to tablets could save the NHS £40,000 per patient per year.

The condition affects one in every 30,000-40,000 children.

Gosh experts conducted a project on 19 patients aged seven to 13 to see whether the switch was viable.

Patients were monitored to ensure their blood glucose levels remained stable and asked about how the change in medication format had impacted them.

Jess Manktelow, who has CHI and has been a Gosh patient since she was 15 months old, was one of the children who took part in the project.

Her school and family life was organised around taking liquid diazoxide multiple times a day, which needs to be stored at room temperature in a glass bottle and drawn up with a syringe.

“I would always get a lot of questions about the medication when I would go away camping or at airport for holidays,” she said.

“It would always be hard to explain why I need it so much, but it isn’t always an easy condition to explain.”

The 11-year-old, from Kent, was switched to diazoxide tablets in April 2025.

“It has made a big difference taking medicine that doesn’t taste horrible,” she added.

“There were times where I didn’t want to take it because of the taste.

“It makes things very easy for me now, I’m able to do it myself and it doesn’t take up as much time at school or when I’m doing things I like, like climbing, it doesn’t have as much impact and that makes me happy.”

Her mother Steph Manktelow added: “We were so excited when the team told us we could switch to the diazoxide tablets.

“We’d been hoping for some time, we knew it was a better solution and would allow Jess to have control over her condition and that is very important.”

Kate Morgan, Gosh clinical nurse specialist who co-led the project, said: “We knew the potential this trial had for savings, but the scale of the quality-of-life improvements for children and their families we are seeing is something we didn’t anticipate.

“Children are so much more than their diagnoses – they have full lives and families and their illnesses affects everyone, so it is very important we do all we can to make simple, positive changes that impact everyone for the better.”

Project co-lead Dr Antonia Dastamani, consultant of paediatric endocrinology and diabetes at Gosh, added: “It is common practice to ask patients how they’re finding treatment, or how they feel when they have injections, but we never thought to ask patients about the taste of medicines and whether they like them.

“This has shed a light on key questions we now want to ask children and young people about their care and treatment so they can be more involved and have more independence in their lives.”