The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) is encouraging Australia’s healthcare professionals to reconsider opioid treatment as it is currently administered.
At least one prescription for opioids is dispensed to more than three million people annually, according to 2016-2017 statistics collected by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. However, although opioids are effective in relieving pain, long term use of the drug can have serious side effects such as addiction and unintended overdose.
The ACSQHC is launching the Opioid Analgesic Stewardship in Acute Pain Clinical Care Standard, to outline appropriate uses of opioids for emergency and surgery aftercare staff. The new standard urges doctors to administer alternative pain relief where possible and, if opiates are used, to establish an aftercare program to wean the patient off the drug.
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