A new database for GPs could shave £500m a year off the NHS prescription bill if widely implemented, according to its developers.

Scriptswitch is the brainchild of AKM Software, a privately owned startup based in Warwickshire, which is so confident of its product that it is giving it away free and taking 20 per cent of the savings the software makes.

The PC-based package is already in pilot trials in surgeries across the UK, and may even find customers in the US and Japan, according to Andrew Bodsworth, a founding director at AKM.

"We have had a lot of support from the Department of Trade and Industry in building alliances in Japan and the US," he said.

Scriptswitch contains a database of drugs and medical information, and is designed to guide the GP into prescribing the most cost-effective treatment.

"It's not just a question of finding the cheapest drug," said Bodsworth. "Doctors can't always be up to date with medical developments. For instance we may recommend one slow release tablet a day instead of two faster acting tablets, saving a third on cost."

He explained that in trials the package had managed to cut overall prescription costs by 10 per cent. The annual prescription bill for the NHS is £5bn. "If everyone used the system, we could theoretically save the NHS £500m," Bodsworth said. "And that's without looking at appliances and dressings."

He added that AKM is currently negotiating to recruit a sales force to handle the product across the UK.