At Church Lane Surgery, we recognize that benzodiazepines and other sedative drugs are highly addictive, even in short courses, and are associated with an increased risk of dementia and early death. They are fatal in overdose.
These medications also have a high street value and are often sold on by patients (including the elderly) to supplement income.
When used in conjunction with other medications, such as opioids, their effects (and therefore the risks) are magnified by up to a factor of eight.
Definitions:
- Benzodiazepine: A class of drugs that are sedating. Can be used in short courses to treat acute anxiety, seizures, insomnia, alcohol withdrawal, and muscle spasm. Examples: diazepam, clonazepam, lorazepam, temazepam, chlordiazepoxide.
- ‘Z’ Drugs: A class of drugs commonly used as sleep aids. Examples: zopiclone, zolpidem.
Practice Statement
Our practice will only use these medications when strictly necessary, in the shortest possible courses, and at the lowest possible doses.
Your GP might prescribe a short course of these medications in extenuating circumstances which is at the discretion of the GP.
These prescriptions will only be issued after a discussion with a GP, will be the lowest dose possible, will be for very short courses (a few days), and will not be repeated. They will not be added to repeat prescriptions.
As a surgery, we regularly audit our prescribing of these medications and discuss at practice meetings.
Current Long-Term Prescriptions:
If you have a long-term prescription for any of these medications, it is highly likely that you are physically dependent on them. We recognize that stopping them can be difficult, and we are here to support you. As a practice, we aim to reduce these prescriptions and help you come off them if possible.
For your safety, we have established the following rules:
- All patients on long-term benzodiazepines or Z drugs will be reviewed, and we will aim to reduce these prescriptions where possible.
- All patients on repeat prescriptions for these medications will have an annual review, with risks clearly documented.
- No more than one month’s supply will be prescribed at a time, and early prescription requests will be declined.
- No urgent prescription requests – All requests must go through the patient’s regular/named GP to reduce errors and improve continuity.
- Lost or stolen prescriptions – A replacement will be issued once with a police report number, but this will not be repeated.
- Patients who report a lost or stolen prescription once will be asked to sign a patient contract, agreeing that further scripts will not be issued under these circumstances. This will be recorded as an alert in their notes.
- New patients to the practice who are on these medications will be informed of this policy upon registration.
- Current patients will be informed of this new policy and offered support if they wish to reduce and stop their medications.
Here are some websites with further information:
Honest information about drugs | FRANK
About sleeping pills and minor tranquillisers – Mind
Updated October 2025