The National Healthcare Quality Reporting System (NHQRS) provides information on a broad range of measures of health service structures, processes and outcomes with the purpose of providing a means of comparison against international data and internationally accepted best practice. It allows data on the health service to be transparently shared with patients, service providers and policy makers. The reporting of performance and outcome indicators is designed to enable policy makers and service providers to improve the quality of health service provision. Indicators are presented to allow for comparisons between regions, nationally, internationally and over time. The challenge for the audiences of this report is to ensure that the information presented here is used to improve the quality of our health service. 

PDF p. 51. Benzodiazepine and related drugs prescriptions in the community in people aged 65 years and over

Benzodiazepines and related drugs are a class of medication that can be used in the treatment of a number of conditions, including insomnia, anxiety, addiction, agitation and neurological disorders. With an increased sensitivity to benzodiazepines and a slower metabolism, older patients are at high risk of developing delirium and cognitive impairment and are more susceptible to falls and resultant fractures. Domain 5 includes an indicator on the number of patients aged 65 years and over (per 1,000 eligible patients) who have had a reimbursable prescription for a benzodiazepine or benzodiazepine related medication dispensed for 12 months or more via the Community Drugs Schemes. When a gender lens is applied to this indicator the following can be observed:

• The number of female patients per 1,000 eligible patients who have had a reimbursable prescription for a benzodiazepine or benzodiazepine related medication dispensed for 12 months or more has been consistently higher than the number of male patients over the period from 2013 to 2021. (See Domain 5 for further details).
• Based on the most recent data from the OECD, this pattern is in line with the trend in other OECD countries (See Figure WH16) 

PDF p. 203. Domain 5: treating and caring for people in a safe environment - Chronic benzodiazepine usage in the community in people aged 65 years and over

Definition: The number of patients aged 65 years and over (per 1,000 eligible patients) who have had a reimbursable prescription for a benzodiazepine or benzodiazepine related medication dispensed for 12 months or more via the Community Drugs Schemes

Description: Benzodiazepines are a class of medication that can be used in the treatment of a number of conditions, including insomnia, anxiety, addiction, agitation and neurological disorders. Benzodiazepine related drugs (i.e., z-drugs) are indicated for the short-term treatment of insomnia. When they are appropriately prescribed, benzodiazepines and related drugs are considered relatively safe as they are effective, fast-acting and have low toxicity. Benzodiazepines are also prescribed in the treatment of muscle spasticity, involuntary movement disorders and detoxification from alcohol. [4]. However, as with any medicine, their use also carries the risk of side-effects and toxic reactions, particularly among older people. With an increased sensitivity to benzodiazepines and a slower metabolism, older patients are at high risk of developing delirium and cognitive impairment and are more susceptible to falls and fractures… 

PDF p. 89 Domain 2: supporting people with long term conditions

Definition: The age-sex standardised hospitalisation rate per 100,000 population for people aged 15 years and older with a principal diagnosis of COPD.

Description: COPD is a common progressive lung disease. Although it is a preventable disease, exposure to inhaled gases and particles, e.g., tobacco smoke, which accounts for 85-90% of cases, usually begins decades before symptomatic disease can be detected