Prescribing in a Special Hospital

A survey of the drug treatment of all 466 patients in Broadmoor Hospital is presented. Just over one-fifth were not receiving any psychotropic medication on the survey day. Polypharmacy was common, with 56 per cent receiving two or more anti-psychotic drugs, and over four-fifths of patients on anti-psychotics were prescribed regular anticholinergic medication. Treatment with PRN drugs, hypnotics or minor tranquillizers was relatively rare. Comparisons with other published surveys show broadly similar rates of prescribing for mentally ill patients. Average dosages in chlorpromazine equivalents were calculated, and it was shown that patients detained under a civil section of the Mental Health Act 1983 and those being treated in the special care unit were likely to receive higher doses of anti-psychotic drugs