Prescription Drugs
(asked on 2nd January 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prescriptions were issued for each drug categorised under the (a) (i) clonazepam and (ii) other benzodiazepines, (b) z-drugs, (c) antidepressants, (d) opioids, (e) pregabalin and (f) gabapentin drug groups in the last 12 months and the total number of unique identified patients for each drug.
The NHSBSA holds patient identifiable information for the number of items dispensed and claimed for reimbursement. The following table shows the total number of prescription items for clonazepam and other benzodiazepines, z-drugs, antidepressants, opioids, pregabalin, and gabapentin drug groups, as well as the percentage and number of unique identified patients for those drug groups for 2024/25:
Drug Group | Total number of prescription items | Total number of unique identified patients | Percentage of items where the patient has been identified |
Clonazepam | 1,073,708 | 84,379 | 98.19% |
Other benzodiazepines | 6,560,170 | 1,122,860 | 97.01% |
Clonazepam and other benzodiazepines | 7,633,878 | 1,193,477 | 97.17% |
Z-drugs | 4,888,101 | 721,641 | 98.20% |
Antidepressants | 92,642,110 | 8,888,229 | 99.25 |
Opioids | 39,015,440 | 5,559,691 | 98.99 |
Pregabalin | 9,607,609 | 851,696 | 99.44** |
Gabapentin | 7,413,842 | 783,591 | 99.44** |
Notes:
- for the clonazepam and other benzodiazepines drug groups, the figures represent patients who have received any combination of clonazepam and/or other benzodiazepines, as no patient is counted twice within this row, even where multiple medications have been received; and
- for the pregabalin, and gabapentin drug groups, please note these figures refer to the combined category of gabapentinoids.
Patient count totals included in the table should not be aggregated.