PFD report

Steven Bowker · Prevention of Future Deaths report

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Issued 2 Dec 2023•Manchester South

Report record

Published report and response evidence

This page connects the concerns raised in this report with statements found in recipients’ published responses. A link shows a clear evidence connection; it does not assign responsibility.

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Concerns
1

Raised in this report

Recipients
2

Named on the report

Responses found
1

Of 2 recipients

Stated actions
0

Described in responses

Recipients and published responses

Source document

Full report text

This is the full text from the original published report.

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Concerns and recipient responses

Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.

Concerns raised1

  1. Dangers to patients from prolonged prescription and use of opiate medication
Responses linked to these concerns

Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.

Respondent positions A position is what a recipient says about a concern when it does not describe a specific action.1

  1. Position

    Prescribing and medication review decisions are assigned to individual clinicians, working with patients and accountable to service commissioners.

    Stated by Department of Health and Social CareRedirects responsibilityThe respondent said that another organisation was responsible for deciding or taking action.

Source evidence

How this individual concern was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. Response links show a clear evidence connection; they do not assign responsibility.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Dangers to patients from prolonged prescription and use of opiate medication

Wider context from the report

“I am concerned by the dangers to patients in respect of the prolonged prescription and use of opiate medication. ”

Is this part of a recurring concern?

No recurring-concern membership is currently published.

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Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Prescribing and medication review decisions are assigned to individual clinicians, working with patients and accountable to service commissioners.

Verbatim wording from the response

“I hope you will appreciate and understand, that the decision to prescribe a particular product is, rightly, a clinical one and should be based on the patient’s medical needs. GPs and clinicians are expected to take into account regulatory and good practice guidance, appropriate local and national guidance on clinical, and cost effectiveness and treatment pathways of their respective Integrated Care Board (ICB). They are accountable for their prescribing decisions, both professionally and to their service commissioners. Similarly, the process of reviewing medication is one in which the GP or responsible clinician work together with the patient to decide on the most appropriate course of treatment. Prescribing clinicians should always satisfy themselves that the medicines they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed.”

Source location

Response from Department of Health and Social Care
Page 1 · response
Published 11 December 2023

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Information checked against the published report and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations

Data last updated 7 September 2026