July 17th 2024

By Ailsa Colquhoun

Scotland earmarks 17 items for deprescribing

Some 17 items have been earmarked for deprescribing in Scotland, as part of an initiative to achieve sustainable prescribing and reduce unwarranted variation in prescribing.

Other items potentially affected by the initiative include diabetic sundries. In the consultation there are also recommendations for antimicrobial stewardship.

The consultation covers items that are said to have low or limited effectiveness, safety concerns, or provide low value for money for NHS Scotland where there are more cost-effective items available. This can also include instances of antibiotics being prescribed unnecessarily or for longer than the recommended duration, increasing antimicrobial resistance.

The 17 items for deprescribing include co-proxamol, bath and shower emollients, doxazosin modified release preparation, paracetamol and tramadol combination products and perindopril arginine.

Please respond to this consultation via the Scottish Government Citizen Space by 8 September 2024.