Prescriptions for opioids ‘fall by almost half-a-million over last four years’

New figures were published by NHS England

NHS England said an 8% drop in prescriptions in under three years for opioids was estimated to have saved nearly 350 lives (Alamy/PA)

GPs and pharmacists have helped slash prescriptions for potentially addictive opioid drugs by 450,000 in under four years, the latest data suggests.

New figures published by NHS England show prescriptions for opioids fell from 5.68 million to 5.23 million between 2019/20 and the year ending November 2022.

The number of benzodiazepines prescribed had also fallen by 170,000, from 1.25 million to 1.08 million.