The choice and medication websites offer people information about medications used in the mental health setting to help people make informed decisions about medication. Use the site on your own or use it together with your family or someone you care for or your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.
Choice and Medication is commercially available on subscription to NHS Trusts, specialist interest pharmacy groups, community pharmacies, independent healthcare providers and charitable mental health organisations.
- Download the Choice and medication order form
- Download the Choice and medication benefits leaflet
Subscribers provide access to a choice and medication website that is close to where you live or work. Find your local website now.
The quality assured content we provide is written by clinical experts and based on published data you can trust.
Any queries about an individuals treatment should be directed to a mental health professional or NHS Direct.
Medication can be taken for a short length of time but it can also be a lifelong experience for many people. With this in mind the choice of medication for people takes on even greater importance. When asked to indicate their top three priorities for improving services over half of people who use mental health services included medicines with fewer adverse effects. More than a third said this was their top priority (Rethink, Our Point of View Survey).
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) have stated on several guidelines about the importance of Choice. The Schizophrenia Guidelines (December 2002) assert that “The choice of antipsychotic drug should be made jointly by the individual and the clinician responsible for treatment based on an informed discussion of the relative benefits of the drugs and their side-effect profiles. The individual’s advocate or carer should be consulted where appropriate.”
The NICE Amended Depression Guidelines (April 2007) state that “Patient preference and past experience of treatment, and particular patient characteristics should inform the choice of drug.”