Concerns over patient monitoring as anti-depressant use surges

Coroners have raised multiple warnings about the way a commonly-used medication is being prescribed to at-risk patients, HSJ has found.

HSJ has identified at least nine ‘prevention of future deaths’ reports issued by coroners since 2017 which highlighted the way the deceased’s prescription for sertraline was handled, with two of these issued since the start of 2023.

It comes as Open Prescribing data suggests sertraline prescriptions have increased by almost 40 per cent since 2019, which has led to concerns that GPs are struggling to meet the growing demand for follow-up checks.

Read full story

Source: HSJ, 9 August 2023