More than 50,000 prescriptions for omeprazole were handed out by north GPs in September – but what were the other most-common items?
Doctors across the north and north-east prescribed more than £16 million of medication to patients during the month – and we’ve calculated the most common prescriptions where you live in Scotland.
We’ve looked at the latest data for a rundown of all the items offered to patients in the Grampian, Highland and islands health boards.
As there’s a slight lag in the numbers being released, the latest figures cover all GPs in the region in September 2022.
September 2022: The key stats
Total prescriptions: 1,389,134
Total cost: £16,060,393.63
Most common prescriptions: Omeprazole (52,231 prescriptions). Used to lower stomach acid levels to treat heartburn and indigestion.
Most individual items: Paracetamol (3,907,841 tablets). Used for pain relief.
Total individual items: 92,357,076
What were the most common prescriptions in my area?
Grampian
Since we started producing these charts four months ago, there’s been very little change in the top ten prescriptions for Grampian.
One again omeprazole topped the list, with around 4,000 fewer prescriptions than August.
There were some minor moves with the likes of atorvastatin and prostate medication tamsulosin but, overall, the chart was largely unchanged.
Only one new entry for September – with steroid medication prednisolone entering at number 38, pushing out last month’s number 40, lansoprazole.
Highland
After a lot of shuffling earlier in the summer, the Highland’s chart calmed down significantly.
Like Grampian, prednisolone was the only new entry this month – also arriving on the chart at number 38.
It meant blood pressure medication ramipril (also last month’s 38) left the top 40.
Islands: Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles
The top 10 for Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles was unchanged between August and September.
But there was a little more movement than the other areas further down the charts.
Cholesterol medication atorvastatin jumped up to number 20. Hypertension treatment bisopropol fumarate and alendronic acid also climbed a few places each.
Yet again, the only new entrants were right at the foot of the table.
Finasteride – used to shrink men’s prostate gland – was replaced at number 40 with orange-flavoured Laxido laxative sachets.
For more information on why paracetamol is so commonly prescribed, see our guide to the issue here.
In recent years prescription costs in Scotland have fallen, with more emphasis on health boards only ordering stock they need.
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