EXCLUSIVE
 

Adding antidepressants to the new medicines service (NMS) would be an "innovative way" of improving compliance, a leading mental health expert has said.


Conducting NMS interventions over a period of "possibly six months or longer" could prove beneficial for patients suffering from depression and anxiety disorders, said Allan Young, a professor at the King's College Institute of Psychiatry.


"You need to have reasonably frequent appointments [for] one or two weeks after starting. It doesn't necessarily need to be frequent [after that], but you need to check the person is staying on the medication and evaluate the side effects," he told C+D at a mental health meeting organised by the all-party pharmacy group on Tuesday (February 24).


Although antidepressants were "one of the most commonly prescribed drugs", the "vast majority" of patients only took them for "a few weeks" rather than the recommended treatment period of "many months", said Professor Young, who is also chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists psychopharmacology committee.


Some healthcare experts were concerned that NHS England did "not pay significant attention to mental health", and adding antidepressants to the NMS would not only improve compliance but "treat these illnesses better, reduce morbidity and save society some money", he added.
 

Katherine Darton, information officer at mental health charity Mind, agreed that the NMS could benefit patients on antidepressants if its treatment period was extended from the current four weeks. But pharmacists needed training to help them "get comfortable" talking to patients about mental health issues, she added.
 

Last year, an evaluation of the NMS recommended that the service be extended to cover more drugs, including mental health medication.

 

How would adding antidepressants to the NMS benefit your patients?

 

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