To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for his assessment of the level of prescription drug use; and to outline the steps his Department is taking to address prescription drug addiction.

The number of prescription items recorded per head of population in Primary Care in Northern Ireland is higher than in England and Scotland but is lower than the figures for Wales.

The Health and Social Care Board has put a range of measures in place to tackle prescription drug addiction. For example, the Board has established a Prescription Drug Misuse Group which was set up to share information and best practice in relation to the management of patients prescribed drugs which have the potential for abuse. Medicines Management Advisers address the issue of medicines with the potential for addiction or abuse in their regular visits to GP practices. The Board has also developed Prescribing Audits, Reviews and Guidelines to support GP practices in reducing the inappropriate prescribing of analgesics.

Each of the five Health and Social care Trusts has Community Addiction teams and substitute Prescribing Teams in place to work with patients who require support to withdraw safely from prescribed medication.