Antipsychotic prescribing in care homes

doi:10.1136/bmj.a895

Published 22 July 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a895
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a895

Letters

Antipsychotics for dementia

Antipsychotic prescribing in care homes

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Antipsychotic prescription in care homes¹ ²shows a lack of understandingof the needs of residents and inadequate systems for the healthcaresupport of people in care homes generally.

There are now some three care home beds for every "NHS" establishmentbed (all specialties) in England; a high proportion of theseprovide refuge and care for people with mental impairment, usuallyrelated to dementia. Commonly, people are transferred to carehomes after a crisis and acute hospital admission, and our experienceis that some 40% of antipsychotic prescriptions to care homeresidents have been initiated in NHS hospitals. The transferof medical care to receiving general practitioners (who typicallyare not the patient’s usual or previous doctor) is seldomsupported by adequate information to encourage a programme ofgradual drug withdrawal.

Care homes may become overwhelmed by the challenge of peoplewith dementia, individually or collectively. Although some ofthese homes . . . [Full text of this article]

Clive E Bowman, medical director

¹ BUPA Care Services, Leeds LS18 4UP

bowmanc@bupa.com