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NHS England has launched a new framework for local health and care providers which aims to reduce the inappropriate prescribing of addiction-causing medicines, such as opioids.
The framework comes after research revealed that GPs and pharmacists have helped cut opioid prescriptions in England by 450,000 in under four years.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Director for England, James Davies, said the framework is a “positive step towards improving patient care” and will help people to “reduce their use of medicines that are no longer providing much clinical benefit”.
Alternative therapies should be offered to patients who have been on opioids for long periods of time
The campaign highlights that high-strength painkillers and other addiction-causing medicines, like opioids and benzodiazepines, can become harmful without intervention.
GPs and clinical pharmacists should therefore regularly review patients’ medicines and make a shared decision about whether a change in treatment is needed, especially in cases where the clinical benefit for an individual remaining on a treatment decreases over time. In such instances, patients should be moved onto alternative therapies which are less addictive.
One example that has already demonstrated the benefits of this step-change is ‘The Living Well with Pain Programme’ in Gloucestershire, which has taken a new approach to supporting people with long-term non-cancer pain by focusing not only on managing the impact of the pain but also people’s mental health – helping to reduce reliance on pharmaceuticals.
An evaluation of the programme over the past four years has shown a significant improvement in the mental health and wellbeing of more than eight in 10 (83%) of the people who participated in the initiative.
NHS England is encouraging local systems to adopt similar initiatives that are tailored to the needs of their population, giving people flexibility in how to manage their condition.
Reducing the risk of dependency
Mr Davies said pharmacists will have a key role in the implementation of this new framework, as they are “well-placed to help reduce inappropriate prescribing of high strength painkillers.”
“Pharmacy teams can also often spot repeat purchases of over the counter medicines by patients so are well-placed to intervene and give advice on the management of chronic pain. Whilst opioids can play an important part in helping people with chronic pain there has long been a need for alternative approaches that are safer and more effective for patients.
“Pharmacists can improve patient care by conducting medication reviews to identify instances where opioids, benzodiazepines or other potentially addictive drugs are being prescribed inappropriately or in excessive quantities. They can then work with prescribers to adjust the patient’s medicines to reduce the risk of dependency or other adverse effects,” he said.