Approximately 750,000 people in the UK live with dementia and the NHS aims to provide them with the best dementia care possible. The National Dementia and Antipsychotic Prescribing Audit plays an important part in this.

It is estimated that around 25 per cent of people with dementia (180,000 people) are currently being prescribed antipsychotic medication designed to treat conditions such as schizophrenia. For around 36,000 people with dementia, antipsychotic drugs are the right treatment option but they are often prescribed inappropriately to people with dementia.

What is the National Dementia and Antipsychotic Prescribing Audit?

The use of antipsychotic medication can lead to serious side affects for people with dementia. The Government has made a commitment to reduce the inappropriate prescribing of antipsychotic medication for people with dementia. The National Dementia and Antipsychotic Prescribing Audit collects information from GP practices on the prescribing of antipsychotic drugs for people with dementia.

Aim of the audit

The National Dementia and Antipsychotic Prescribing audit aims to gather information from primary care to establish a national picture of prescribing antipsychotic medication in people with dementia. The results of the audit will be published within a National Summary report in the summer of 2012 providing analysis at national and PCT level. Participating practices will also receive individual feedback reports providing the audit results at a local level. This audit has been endorsed and is supported by the Royal College of General Practitioners.

The audit is now being rolled out nationally to GP practices across England.

How will the audit make a difference?

The audit aims to gather information from GP practices to establish a national picture of prescribing antipsychotic medication for people with dementia.

The audit will:

• Provide publicly available information on the current prescribing of antipsychotic medication for people with dementia and their carers
• Support the Government's commitment to reduce the inappropriate prescribing of antipsychotic medication
• Help GP practices identify where services can be improved.

Patient and Carer Information

A leaflet and poster providing information on the audit for patient and carers can be downloaded here:

• Improving care for people with dementia - leaflet (PDF 523kb)
• Improving care for people with dementia - poster (PDF 458kb)

For further information on the audit or to request additional copies of the leaflet or poster, please contact the NHS Information Centre on HSCIC.dementiaaudit@nhs.net or 0845 300 6016.