Many more hospital patients and care home residents suffer strokes triggered by the antipsychotic medications they are given to keep them sedated.

New GP-led bodies that will purchase services under the reformed NHS are being told to review the prescriptions of all 180,000 dementia sufferers currently prescribed the drugs, and to do all they can to give them alternative treatment.

A Dementia Commissioning Pack published on Thursday by the Department of Health states: “Thousands of people across England who are living with dementia are taking antipsychotic medication that they do not need and that could possibly harm them.

“Evidence tells us that although there are clinical situations where a time-limited prescription of antipsychotic drugs may be appropriate, antipsychotic drugs are often overprescribed and continued when alternative therapies are more beneficial.

“There is an unambiguous case for a substantial reduction in their use alongside the wider adoption of alternative interventions which we know can help to maximise the quality of life for people with dementia and their carers.”

A Government-commissioned report published in 2009 estimated that 180,000 dementia sufferers are being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs but in as many as 150,000 cases they are unnecessarily being taken, often to keep patients quiet in hospital or nursing homes.

Because the “chemical cosh” drugs are feared to worsen other medical conditions and speed up mental decline, it is estimated that they lead to 1,800 needless deaths – five a day – every year. In addition, they are thought to cause 1,620 strokes, half of which are severe.

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