The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7288 p238
28 February 2004

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Government looks at instalment dispensing for benzodiazepines

Instalment dispensing for benzodiazepines is likely to be introduced within the year, the Department of Health confirmed this week.

Details are still being worked out but the scheme is expected to mirror the system which already applies to methadone prescriptions with patients visiting a pharmacist for daily dispensing. The proposal is an attempt by the department to reduce the number of patients taking benzodiazepines over the long term and who have become addicted.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee admitted it only heard about the proposal when it was reported in a national newspaper but said that the department has since confirmed that it is to be consulted.

The PSNC head of NHS services Alastair Buxton said: “Instalment dispensing seems a sensible idea to reduce the problems with benzodiazepine prescribing but the appropriate funding would have to be negotiated.”

Director of pharmacy practice at the National Pharmaceutical Association Colette McCreedy said: “The NPA welcomes this move. Instalment dispensing should be linked to patient need and not restricted to specific medicines. We look forward to discussing the details of this new scheme with the Department of Health.”

In a statement the department said the proposals to introduce instalment dispensing for benzodiazepines was in the “planning stage” and was to “enable doctors to manage more closely the amount of medication available to a patient at any given time”.

It went on: “We will be liaising with pharmacists and other key stakeholders to ensure effective implementation. We would expect to have the programme in place within the next year.”

Current national prescribing guidelines, drawn up in 1989, recommend that GPs should only prescribe benzodiazepines for short-term use and for a maximum of 28 days at a time. However, according to Department of Health latest figures, 30 per cent of the 12.7 million benzodiazepine prescriptions dispensed in 2002 were for 56 tablets.