Stats show some concerning trends in opioid prescribing in NSW. 

Scientists have investigated patterns in opioid prescribing in NSW between 2013 and 2018. 

They found that the number of doctors prescribing opioids rose from 20,179 to 23,408 during the period, and 15 per cent of all opioid prescriptions were issued by just 1 per cent of practitioners. 

Meanwhile, the bottom 50 per cent of prescribers were responsible for just 1 per cent of prescriptions. 

The team also looked for clusters of practitioners in terms of how many opioid scripts they gave out, and identified that the largest cluster was mainly prescribing opioids as painkillers to older patients. 

This cluster accounted for 76.7 per cent of all prescribed opioids, and represented 93 per cent of the top 1 per cent of prescribers. 

A cluster prescribing opioids as painkillers to younger patients with high rates of surgery accounted for just 1.6 per cent of all prescribed opioids, and comprised 18.7 per cent of prescribers. 

The remaining two clusters comprised 21.2 per cent of prescribers and accounted for 20.9 per cent of all opioids prescribed. 

Although the scientists did not assess the appropriateness of the opioid prescriptions, they caution that some prescribing patterns are “concerning”.

The full study is accessible here.