GPs `Forced' to Prescribe Drugs

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Byline: By Lyndsay Moss

Concerns about the inappropriate use of antidepressants to treat patients are highlighted in a survey of doctors today.

An investigation by doctors' magazine Pulse found that depressed patients were being prescribed the drugs against national guidelines because of a "crisis" in access to mental health services such as talking therapies.

The magazine said that people faced a lottery in access to therapy and counselling, with waiting lists of months or even years in some areas.

The findings came from a survey of 170 primary care organisations in England and Wales and one in Scotland, and in a separate survey of 1,300 GPs. …