Background:Guideline recommendations for the pharmacologic treatment of personality disorder lack consensus, particularly for emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD), and there is limited information on current prescribing practice in the United Kingdom.Objective: To characterize the nature and quality of current prescribing practice for personality disorder across the United Kingdom, as part of a quality improvement program.

ObjectivesTo increase the frequency and quality of screening for the metabolic syndrome in people prescribed continuing antipsychotic medication.DesignAn audit-based, quality improvement programme (QIP) with customised feedback to participating mental health services after each audit, including benchmarked data on their relative and absolute performance against an evidence-based practice standard and the provision of bespoke change interventions.SettingAdult, assertive outreach, community psychiatric services in the UK.Participants6 audits were conducted between 2006 and 2012. 21 mental health Trusts participated in the baseline audit in 2006, submitting data on screening for 1966 patients, while 32 Trusts participated in the 2012 audit, submitting data on 1591 patients.ResultsOver the 6 years of the programme, there was a statistically significant increase in the proportion of patients for whom measures for all 4 aspects of the metabolic syndrome had been documented in the clinical records in the previous year, from just over 1 in 10 patients in 2006 to just over 1 in 3 by 2012. The proportion of patients with no evidence of any screening fell from almost ½ to 1 in 7 patients over the same period.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that audit-based QIPs can help improve clinical practice in relation to physical healthcare screening. Nevertheless, they also reveal that only a minority of community psychiatric patients prescribed antipsychotic medication is screened for the metabolic syndrome in accordance with best practice recommendations, and therefore potentially remediable causes of poor physical health remain undetected and untreated.

ObjectivesTo determine the prevalence and quality of antipsychotic prescribing for people with intellectual disability (ID).DesignA clinical audit of prescribing practice in the context of a quality improvement programme. Practice standards for audit were derived from relevant, evidence-based guidelines, including NICE. Data were mainly collected from the clinical records, but to determine the clinical rationale for using antipsychotic medication in individual cases, prescribers could also be directly questioned.Settings54 mental health services in the UK, which were predominantly NHS Trusts.ParticipantsInformation on prescribing was collected for 5654 people with ID.ResultsAlmost two-thirds (64%) of the total sample was prescribed antipsychotic medication, of whom almost half (49%) had a schizophrenia spectrum or affective disorder diagnosis, while a further third (36%) exhibited behaviours recognised by NICE as potentially legitimate targets for such treatment such as violence, aggression or self-injury. With respect to screening for potential side effects within the past year, 41% had a documented measure of body weight (range across participating services 18–100%), 32% blood pressure (0–100%) and 37% blood glucose and blood lipids (0–100%).ConclusionsThese data from mental health services across the UK suggest that antipsychotic medications are not widely used outside of licensed and/or evidence-based indications in people with ID. However, screening for side effects in those patients on continuing antipsychotic medication was inconsistent across the participating services and the possibility that a small number of these services failed to meet basic standards of care cannot be excluded.

ObjectivesTo review prescribing practice concerning valproate, an established human teratogen, for the management of bipolar disorder in women of childbearing age.DesignThe Prescribing Observatory for Mental Health conducted a baseline clinical audit in the UK, as part of a quality improvement programme.ParticipantsSix hundred and forty-eight clinical teams from 55 mental health Trusts submitted retrospective treatment data relating to patients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.ResultsOf the audit sample of 6705 patients, 3854 were 50 years of age or younger. Valproate was prescribed for 24% of women and 43% men in this age group, and the mean dose of valproate was lower in women (1196 mg) than in men (1391 mg). For only half of such women was there documented evidence that information had been provided on the risks for the unborn child and the need for adequate contraception. Valproate was more often used in men to treat mania and aggression, while the most common treatment targets in women were hypomania and relapse prevention.ConclusionsDespite explicit recommendations in national treatment guidelines and published safety alerts and warnings regarding the use of valproate in women of childbearing age, current prescribing of this medication to such women in the context of the treatment of bipolar disorder falls short of best practice, particularly with regard to provision of information regarding the risks associated with exposure to valproate during pregnancy. While women younger than 50 years of age were less likely to be prescribed valproate than men in the same age group, and at a lower dosage, it is unclear to what extent this reflects clinicians’ concerns about teratogenicity or is driven by perceptions of the indication for valproate, and the dosage required, for the treatment of different phases of the disorder in men and women.

This QIP achieved modest improvement in medicines reconciliation practice.