§ Mr. Berminghamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) whether any steps have been taken to monitor repeat prescriptions for drugs in the benzodiazepine groups in the years 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983; and with what results;
(2) what guidance has been issued to the medical profession on the monitoring of repeat prescriptions of drugs in the benzodiazepine group in the years 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983; and if he has any plans to issue further guidance.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe cannot identify repeat prescriptions of drugs from any data we hold centrally.50W Records of prescribing for individual patients, including any continuing medication, are held only by their general practitioners.
The British National Formulary, which is distributed free of charge by our Department to all NHS prescribing doctors, stresses that sedatives and tranquillisers, of which Benzodiazepines are the most commonly used, should not be prescribed routinely but reserved for short courses to alleviate acute conditions.
§ Mr. Berminghamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many of the prescriptions written for drugs in the benzodiazepine group in the years 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983 were repeat prescriptions;
(2) what was the total cost to the National Health Service of prescriptions written in the years 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983 for drugs in the benzodiazepine group;
(3) what was the total number of prescriptions written in the years 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983 for drugs in the benzodiazepine group.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe number and cost of prescriptions written by general practitioners and dispensed by chemists and appliance contractors in England for drugs in the benzodiazepines group was as follows. All figures are estimates based on a one in 200 sample of dispensed prescriptions.
Number of prescriptions million Basic ingredient cost £ million 1980 23.9 27.5 1981 24.2 31.9 1982 24.4 35.3 1983* 17.7 27.1 * January to September. Information is not yet available for the 4th quarter of 1983.
No information is available about the numbers of repeat prescriptions.