Observational studyThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2024
Private prescribing of controlled opioids in England, 2014-2021: a retrospective observational study.
Observational study in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Socioeconomic Deprivation and Opioid Consumption: An Analysis Across England.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Review
- Private prescribing of controlled opioids in England, 2014-2021: a retrospective observational study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTrends in NHS opioid prescribing have been well published, yet trends in private prescribing of opioids have not been widely established.
aimTo assess trends and geographical variation in controlled opioids prescribed by private prescribers in England. DESIGN AND
settingThis was a retrospective observational study in English primary health care.
methodData on Schedule 2 and 3 controlled opioids ('controlled opioids') were obtained from the NHS Business Services Authority (BSA) using Freedom of Information (FOI) requests between 1 January 2014 and 30 November 2021. Absolute counts and rates of the number of items dispensed per cumulative number of registered private prescribers were calculated and stratified over time, by opioid type, and geographical region.
resultsThis study found that 128 341 items of controlled opioids were prescribed by private prescribers in England between January 2014 and November 2021, which decreased by 50% from 23 339 items (4.09 items/prescriber) in 2014 to 11 573 items (1.49 items/prescriber) in 2020. Methadone (36%,
conclusionControlled opioids prescribed by private prescribers in England decreased and were primarily prescribed in London. To ensure patient safety, the monitoring and surveillance of controlled opioids dispensed privately should continue and items linked to 'unidentified doctors' should be addressed further.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.