Amanda Egbujo
Panorama Producer |
 As part of the Panorama programme NHS Postcode Lottery: It Could Be You, we contacted dementia specialists across Scotland to ask it they are still prescribing Aricept to patients with mild Alzheimer's. Anticholinesterase inhibitors such as Aricept are used to treat patients who have been diagnosed as having mild  Aricept is only available free in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease |
Alzheimers. NICE had concluded that these drugs should only be made available to treat patients in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who had been diagnosed as having moderate Alzheimers. In Scotland, the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) decides which drugs are available to NHS patients. 18 months ago they ruled that consultants could prescribe Aricept as soon as a diagnosis is made. They have since reversed their decision to fall into line with NICE. But the story doesn't end there: doctors can still use their clinical judgment. So what did they decide to do? That's what the survey sought to find out. We asked NHS consultants in Scotland to give a simple "Yes" or "No" answer to the following question: "Do you prescribe AChE inhibitors, such as Aricept, to your patients during the mild stage of Alzheimer's?" We informed the psychiatrists that their responses would be treated anonymously. According to NHS Scotland Workforce Information, the number of NHS consultants working in old age psychiatry in Scotland in 2008 was 75. We contacted, either directly or through secretarial staff, 36 old age psychiatrists. 24 responded to the questionnaire. From that total 23 said "Yes", 1 suggested that the question was too simplistic and therefore could say neither "Yes" nor "No". 12 did not respond. Panorama: The Postcode Lottery: It Could Be You will be on BBC One at 8.30pm on Monday 18 August.
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