Scotland’s health boards have spent more than £57 million providing free paracetamol since prescription charges were scrapped in 2011.

The figures, which include GP prescriptions and not paracetamol provided in hospitals, show that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spent more than any other baord over the seven years - paying out more than £12m.

NHS Lothian was the second biggest spender, with a bill of £8.2m for the painkiller, while NHS Lanarkshire was third, spending £7.5m prescribing the drug.

The average cost of buying a packet of 16 paracetamol tablets over the counter is currently around 30p, but the figures - obtained by Scotland on Sunday - show that almost three billion tablets have been dispensed free of charge.

Dr John McAnaw, chair of the Scottish Pharmacy Board, who represent the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland, said the prescribing of paracetamol needed to be looked at in the context of treating longer-term conditions such as osteoarthritis.

He said: “It is very difficult to comment on the cost of one medicine in isolation.

“This must be looked at in the context of the total amount spent on prescription medicines, and in an era of an ageing population, living longer sometimes with several long-term conditions.

“Paracetamol is an inexpensive but safe and efficient option which is used to treat many different kinds of pain, including the chronic pain of long-term conditions.”

Scottish Conservatives health spokesman Miles Briggs argued that £57m was a “huge amount” to be spent “relatively cheap” drug.

He added: “Prescribing paracetamol costs significantly more than the actual drug costs, so we need to try to encourage people to purchase paracetamol from pharmacies and supermarkets instead of costly NHS prescriptions.”

Scottish Liberal Democrats health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP , added that it was important that health boards ensure that are providing value for money for the taxpayer.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Paracetamol provides effective pain relief, and the majority of its use in Scotland is to support the management of chronic disease.

“The spending on paracetamol prescriptions represents approximately 0.5 per cent of the total drug expenditure across NHS Scotland over the same seven-year period.”