HC Deb 14 May 2002 vol 385 c623W
Ms Drown

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many opioid prescriptions were issued in the UK in each of the past ten years. [53197]

Ms Blears

Information for England is shown in the table. Information for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a matter for the devolved Administrations.

Number of prescription items dispensed in the community for opioid analgesics and opioid drugs used in substance dependence, 1991 to 2001
Thousand
Number of prescription items
1991 3,444
1992 3,705
1993 3,946
1994 4,384
1995 4,918
1996 5,495
1997 6,096
1998 6,722
1999 7,336
2000 8,014
2001 8,766

Notes:

  1. 1. The prescription information was obtained from the Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system and is based on a full analysis of all prescriptions dispensed in the community, i.e. by community pharmacists and appliance contractors, dispensing doctors, and prescriptions submitted by prescribing doctors for items personally administered in England. Total prescriptions include not only prescriptions originating from general medical practitioners in England but also from hospital doctors, nurses, and dentists, provided they were dispensed in the community. Also included are prescriptions written in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man but dispensed in England. The data do not cover drugs dispensed in hospital or private prescriptions.
  2. 2. Opioid analgesics are those drugs defined in the British National Formulary (BNF) paragraph 4.7.2, "Opioid analgesics". The opioid drugs used in substance dependence are contained within the BNF section 4.10, and are methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone.