NHS England has announced that opioid prescriptions have been cut by 450,000 in under four years, as a new action plan is announced to crack down on the overuse of potentially addictive medications.
The new framework for local health and care providers aims to reduce inappropriate prescribing of high-strength painkillers and other addiction-causing medicines, such as opioids and benzodiazepines, where they may no longer be the most clinically appropriate treatment for patients.
The plan intends to support GPs and clinical pharmacists to provide patients with a personalised review of the medicines and make a shared decision about whether a change in treatment is needed.
Figures show that the number of opioid painkillers prescribed has fallen by 8 per cent in under three years, which is estimated to have saved nearly 350 lives and prevented more than 2,100 incidents of patient harm.
The numbers of benzodiazepines and sleeping pills (z-drugs) prescribed in England has also fallen by 170,000 (13.9 per cent) and 95,000 (10.2 per cent) respectively since the NHS led the implementation of key recommendations outlined in a 2019 review by Public Health England. The review found that in 2017/18 one in four adults in England were prescribed benzodiazepines, z-drugs, gabapentinoids, opioids for chronic non-cancer pain or antidepressants.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England said: “We know that patients who require prescriptions for potentially addictive drugs can become dependent and struggle with withdrawal, and this new action plan helps NHS services to continue positive work in this space having already slashed opioid prescriptions by almost half a million over the last four years.
“The plan gives clear guidance to support patients who no longer need these drugs to provide them with routine medicine reviews and move them on to other, alternative therapies where appropriate, saving both lives and taxpayer money in the process.”
Professor Tony Avery OBE, national clinical director for prescribing at NHS England added: “Medicines offer a fantastic range of tools for NHS staff to provide patient care and treatment that can be positively life-changing, or even life-saving.
“However, we need to be alert to the risks of some medicines, particularly when used over a long period of time, and the framework we are publishing today empowers local services to work with people to ensure they are being effectively supported when a medicine is no longer providing overall benefit”.
