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Fluoxetine: Suffolk

Answer

Information is not collected centrally about the number of patients who are prescribed particular drugs. The following table shows the number of prescriptions dispensed for fluoxetine for the primary care trusts (PCTs) that cover Suffolk from 2003-04 to 2007-08.

Number of prescriptions dispensed for fluoxetine in Suffolk
Financial year	Number of items dispensed
2003-04	65,945
2004-05	64,486
2005-06	66,258
2006-07	62,364
2007-08	53,688
Notes:
1. For the years 2003-04 to 2005-06, the figure for Suffolk is a combination of the figures for Central Suffolk PCT, Ipswich PCT, Suffolk Coastal PCT, Suffolk West PCT and Waveney PCT.
For the year 2006-07, where PCTs were reorganised in October 2006, the figure for Suffolk is a combination of the figures for the old PCTs listed above and the new Suffolk PCT. For the financial year 2007-08, the figure is for the new Suffolk PCT alone.
2. The figure for 2006-07 does not include prescribing in the area of the former Waveney PCT after October 2006, when the PCT joined the former Great Yarmouth Teaching PCT to become Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT.
3. The figure for 2007-08 includes prescribing for 11 months only (April 2007 to February 2008). Data for the remaining month are not yet available. This figure also excludes prescribing from the former Waveney PCT area, which now forms part of Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT.
4. The PACT system covers prescriptions by general practitioners, nurses, pharmacists and others in England and dispensed in the community in the UK. 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/clinics that are dispensed in the community, prescriptions dispensed in hospitals and private prescriptions are not included in PACT data. It is important to note this as some British National Formulary (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 proportion of items written in mental health clinics that are dispensed in the community—these prescriptions are not included in PACT data.
Source:
Information Centre for health and social care—Prescribing Analysis and CosT tool (PACT)

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

475 c608W; 201495

Session

2007-08

Subjects

Suffolk Fluoxetine

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk