Doctors should limit sleeping pill prescriptions, health professionals warn

The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Department of Health were among 17 organisations that produced the consensus statement.

Professor Clare Gerada, chairman of the RCGP, said: Medicines such as tranquillisers do work for many patients but they need to fully understand the risks.

In Britain benzodiazepines are used for short-term insomnia and anxiety and are also used for sedation ahead of surgery or procedures such as dental work.

A study by the British Medical Journal last year linked the drugs to an increased risk of developing dementia, with experts warning against widespread use.

The drugs are usually only prescribed for short-term relief but some patients remain on them for years. As many as one million people use the medication on a regular basis.

Their highly addictive qualities have also been flagged up by experts.

But All Party Parliamentary Group on Involuntary Tranquilliser Addiction said the statement did not go far enough to prevent involuntary tranquilliser addiction.

A spokesman said: The statement is devoid of content and contains no action to prevent or treat involuntary tranquilliser addiction. The Department is still providing no treatment for this illness it created and are passing the buck to local areas with no budget.

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Doctors should limit sleeping pill prescriptions, health professionals warn