HC Deb 27 May 1982 vol 24 cc416-7W
Mr. Ernie Ross

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the total number of prescriptions for anti-depressants, sedatives, tranquillisers and hypnotics in each of the past 10 years in Scotland.

Mr. John MacKay

Following the revision of therapeutic classification in 1975, figures are not available for the whole of the 10-year period in the classifications requested. The estimated numbers of prescriptions for broadly comparable classifications for the years 1975 to 1980 are as follows. Figures for 1981 are not yet available.

Number of Prescriptions
(millions)
1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980
Sedatives and tranquillisers 2.28 2.28 2.37 2.38 2.33 2.12
Anti-depressants 0.63 0.66 0.62 0.62 0.64 0.59
Anti-depressant and sedative/tranquilliser combinations 0.15 0.12 0.11 0.09 0.10 0.08
Hypnotics 1.77 1.78 1.80 1.80 1.83 1.77