Sunderland second highest for painkiller prescriptions - health chiefs call for tighter controls on strongest drugs

Bosses are starting to get control of the issue, with the number of pills handed out in Wearside slashed by a third in less than a year.

But they also insist more needs to be done to tackle a problem which can lead to addiction and a range of side effects.

Ewan Maule, head of medicines optimisation at NHS Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said: “I would like to see greater restriction on access to opioids, in particular a ban on sales of opioid containing medicines over the counter and the introduction of a defined maximum dose for chronic, non-cancer pain.

“This is a complex, long standing and multifaceted problem and solutions to address opioid dependency must be complemented by development and funding of other evidence-based treatments and interventions.”

The ‘Painkillers Don’t Exist’ campaign started in Sunderland in October 2019 and extended to County Durham in March 2020 to encourage doctors and pharmacists to have ‘difficult conversations’ with patients about prescriptions for long term conditions.

While opioid medications such as Codeine and Tramadol may be effective over a short period to treat a broken rib or fractured hip, their use to treat chronic pain can lead to side effects including addiction, personality change, drowsiness and mood swings.

And more GPs and other health professionals – and patients themselves – are now being urged to consider alternatives, such as physiotherapy, yoga or meditation.

Maule added: “There haven’t really been any good, widely-available alternatives [to opioids], there hasn’t been a lot else that patients do.

“Also, the evidence of the harm these drugs can do has only become widely known in recent years.

“Undoubtedly there’s a bit of patient expectation there too, if people go to a consultation with an expectation of something to cure their pain, it can be difficult to say no to them.

“That’s why our campaign has to be public facing – it’s easier if someone goes to a consultation with realistic expectations that there might not be a pill which can salve them.”

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