Despite not having a diagnosis, some dementia patients on the Isle of Wight are continuing to be prescribed antipsychotic medication — which can be potentially harmful.
Dementia charity, The Alzheimer’s Society, said it was ‘extremely concerned’ about the rise in the number of prescriptions across the country during the Covid pandemic and is calling for an urgent government review into the figures.
Lack of psychosis diagnosis
In the six weeks up to 28th February, figures from NHS Digital show 125 dementia patients on the Island were prescribed antipsychotic medication and the vast majority of those (101) did not have a psychosis diagnosis.
In the same period in 2020, 112 patients were prescribed the medication, 90 of whom did not have a diagnosis.
This shows a 12 per cent increase on the previous year.
The drugs prescribed to those patients without a diagnosis can often calm agitated patients, but also increase the risk of strokes and accelerate symptoms of the medical conditions.
Smith: Treatment based on the individual’s needs
Alison Smith, managing director of the Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said the body did review and ensure the antipsychotic medication was only prescribed to patients who need it.
Ms Smith said,
“Supporting people living with dementia can be complex and treatment is based on the individual’s needs and in line with either advance wishes of the patient, or those of their carers or families.”
Why it’s prescribed
Antipsychotic medication is usually prescribed to patients after non-medicinal methods have been looked at, such as adapting environments to better suit a person’s needs, addressing distressing factors or if any physical pain is leading to agitation.
If a patient still cannot be calmed, an antipsychotic prescription may be needed where the benefits outweigh the risks and is done so according to national guidance.
National prescriptions up
Across England ten per cent of 427,000 dementia patients were prescribed antipsychotic drugs between mid-January and the end of February — up from nine per cent the year before but the NHS has warned the data has likely been impacted by the Covid pandemic, although they cannot estimate by how much.
The Department of Health made reducing the use of antipsychotic drugs a priority more than ten years ago after analysis found the inappropriate prescriptions contributed to around 1,800 deaths a year.
Higher prescribing rates since pandemic
A recent report from Public Health England, however, has said there has been a consistent pattern of higher antipsychotic prescribing rates for dementia patients than before the pandemic.
Fiona Carragher, director of research and influencing at The Alzheimer’s Society, said,
“Healthcare providers cannot fall back on using antipsychotics to manage symptoms, and must instead focus on quality care, tailored to the individual.”
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is part of. Read here to find about more about how that scheme works on the Island. Some alterations and additions may have been made by News OnTheWight. Ed
Image: Claudia van Zyl under CC BY 2.0
