Our annual update on the safe management and use of controlled drugs

In our update for 2018, we report on the increase in opioid prescribing across the UK, the measures put in place following the Gosport Independent Panel report, our continuing concerns regarding lower schedule controlled drugs and the introduction of legislation for cannabis based medicinal products.

We share the key issues raised by NHS England controlled drug accountable officers and their unaccounted-for losses of controlled drugs by NHS England area. We also provide some examples of the issues raised and followed up through the local area networks.

As in previous years, we provide data on overall prescribing trends for controlled drugs in 2018, which were broadly similar to 2017. This year, we show the prescribing picture for opioids in Schedules 2 to 5 prescribed in combination with benzodiazepines, pregabalin or gabapentin across CCG areas of England, based on primary care prescription data.