Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle addiction to prescription drugs.

The Government takes the issue of dependence to prescribed drugs very seriously and is taking action to protect people from inappropriate prescribing. In September 2019, Public Health England (PHE) published a review of available data and evidence on the problems of dependence and withdrawal associated with some prescribed medicines.

The review assessed the scale and distribution of the problem and made recommendations for better monitoring and treatment. The full report, summary of the review and information for patients on what the review means for them can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prescribed-medicines-review-report

The Government will consider the report in future policy development in this area. Additionally, the Government has introduced prominent warnings for all opioid medicines and is making sure prevention and social prescribing are at the heart of our NHS Long Term Plan to cut down on over-prescribing.