West Suffolk Hospital

At the West Suffolk Hospital the acute pain team appreciates the medical and social harm from prolonged use of post-operative analgesics. We are also aware of the dangers of drug driving. Furthermore, we recognise that compound preparations of analgesics hinder weaning off the analgesic medication. In addition, it is recognised that  the paracetamol containing compound preparations have the intrinsic risk of inadvertent paracetamol overdose. In an effort to mitigate these risks and promote deprescribing the anaesthetic  team has instigated the following strategies:

1. Compound analgesics have been removed from Day Surgery.
2. All surgical patients are given verbal and written instructions to aid post –operative deprescribing and are warned of the dangers of drug driving.
3.  All surgical patients are informed that  it is expected that all new analgesics should be stopped within 2 weeks of surgery
4. All patients newly prescribed oxycodone are warned about the addictiveness of the agent, and the need to consciously wean themselves off it.
5. Minimal use of compound analgesic both in hospital and on discharge.
6. The use of new in patient prescriptions of modified release oxycodone is heavily scrutinised by the surgical ward pharmacists, as it so difficult to wean off. Patients are given written guidance on weaning and the need to see their GP if further assistance is required
7. Communication is on-going with the local Clinical Commissioning Group to promote deprescribing of chronic pain patients, who have had corrective surgery.