The information is not available in the format requested. Information is held centrally on number of prescribed items written and dispensed, by primary care trust (PCT), and not on the number of people prescribed drugs.
Prescribing information by PCT is available only from February 2005; with September 2009 being the most recent month for which data is presently available. Shropshire is covered by two PCTs, Shropshire county PCT and Telford and Wrekin PCT. Figures for the two PCTs combined for the calendar years 2005 to 2009 have been set out in the following table. The data 2005 and 2009 will be for incomplete years.
Anti-psychotic drugs: British National Formulary (BNF) 4.21 and 4.2.2: Items prescribed in Shropshire county PCT and Telford and Wrekin PCT combinedNumber 2009142,357200854,088200749,666200645,6712005238,650 1 Figures are for nine months, January to September inclusive2 Figures are for 11months, February to December inclusiveDefinitionsAnti-psychotic drugsDefined as those recorded in paragraphs 4.2.1 (antipsychotic drugs) and 4.2.2 (antipsychotic depot injections) of the BNF. The number of items is given for the two paragraphs combined.ePrescribing Analysis and CosT (ePACT) dataThis information was obtained from the ePACT system, which covers prescriptions prescribed by general practitioners, nurses, pharmacists and others in England and dispensed in the community in the United Kingdom. For data at PCT level, prescriptions written by a prescriber located in a particular PCT but dispensed outside that PCT will be included in the PCT in which the prescriber is based. Prescriptions written in England but dispensed outside England are included. Prescriptions written in hospitals or clinics that are dispensed in the community, prescriptions dispensed in hospitals, dental prescribing and private prescriptions are not included in PACT data. It is important to note this as some BNF sections have a high proportion of prescriptions written in hospitals that are dispensed in the community. For example, BNF chapter 4, "Central Nervous System" has a fair proportion of items written in mental health clinics that are dispensed in the community—these prescriptions are not included in PACT data.Prescription Items Prescriptions are written on a prescription form known as an FP10. Each single item written on the form is counted as a prescription item.BNF ClassificationsThe Prescription Cost Analysis system uses the therapeutic classifications defined in BNF. No information on why a drug is prescribed is available and since drugs can be prescribed to treat more than one condition it is impossible to separate the different conditions that a drug was prescribed for.