A doctor has raised concern over “vast” prescriptions for sedatives and antidepressants on the NHS.
GP Andy Ashworth obtained figures showing close to one million items were prescribed in 18 months to March this year in just one health board region.
The total across NHS Lothian included around 250,000 items of benzodiazepines – of which 1101 were given to children under 13. The drug type can be used to treat conditions including seizures.
They are considered effective in the short term but experts warn long-term use can lead to .
Prescribable benzos such as diazepam were implicated in or contributed to 238 deaths last year in Scotland.
Over the same period, nearly 700,000 SSRI antidepressants were prescribed in Lothian. Ashworth, a GP in West Lothian, said: “I thought it was vast.
"It seems to me verging on the dangerous.”
Neil Findlay, Labour MSP for the Lothians, said: “These figures are truly extraordinary. This is stark evidence of the mental health crisis facing our country.”
NHS Lothian nurse director Alex McMahon said: “The prescribing of any medicine is taken after medical consultation with the patient concerned and is based on individual need and appropriateness.”
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