Volume of immediate release oral morphine liquid prescribed by all Sub-ICB Locations
Why it matters: A national patient safety investigation has highlighted risks associated with morphine oral solution, including dosing errors and accidental overconsumption. It has been implicated in a number of drug-related deaths in the NHS, including cases of unintentional overdose.
Particular concerns include the risk of patients 'swigging' morphine oral solution directly from the bottle rather than measuring individual doses, and the supply of large quantities over extended periods. Oral morphine solution 10mg/5ml is a Schedule 5 Controlled Drug with fewer controls than other morphine formulations, which are Schedule 2. This may increase the likelihood of larger volumes being supplied and continued without the safeguards applied to other opioid formulations.
Morphine oral solution also contains high quantities of alcohol and sugar. For example branded Oramorph contains around 90g of sugar and 24g of ethanol, equivalent to three units of alcohol, in each 300ml bottle. These factors should be considered alongside the opioid content when assessing clinical risk.
You can read more about the rationale behind this measure, and the wider considerations surrounding the use of oral liquid morphine, in our guest blog.
Description: Milligrams of immediate release oral morphine liquid per 1000 patients
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Tagged as: Standard, Opioids, National medicines optimisation opportunities, Pain, Safety (or browse all measures)
Sub-ICB Locations are ordered by mean percentile over the past six months. Each chart shows the results for the individual Sub-ICB Location, plus deciles across all Sub-ICB Locations in the NHS in England.
View measure for NHS England combined →
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