2025 Deprescribing with Dr Mark Horowitz
The Wilson Foundation is pleased to partner with PHNs around Australia to deliver a series of deprescribing events with international expert Dr Mark Horowitz.
These sessions will focus on upskilling GPs, pharmacists and clinicians involved in the care of patients using psychiatric medications, based on the RACGP-endorsed Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines.
The Guidelines provide detailed guidance on the safe deprescribing of psychotropic medications, including antidepressants and benzodiazepines.
As part of this partnership, the Wilson Foundation is providing access to a limited number of eBook copies of the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines (valued at $83.99 per copy) for RACGP members attending the events.
A number of the events are accredited as a CPD Approved Activity by the RACGP.
March events:
12 March | Adelaide | 8:30am - 12pm (ACDT) Human Services SA - view a recording on the Human Services SA YouTube channel or on the Forum 2025 - Striking the Balance DHS website
17 March | Hobart | 6:30 - 8pm (AEDT) Primary Care Tasmania - hybrid Register to attend
18 March | Virtual | 6:30 - 8pm (AEST) Brisbane South PHN - virtual Register to attend
19 March | Melbourne | 7:30 - 9am (AEDT) East Melbourne PHN - in person Register to attend
19 March | Virtual | 6:30 - 8pm (AEDT) Gippsland PHN - virtual Register to attend
20 March | Melbourne | 6:30 - 8pm (AEDT) North West Melbourne PHN - in person Register to attend
Links to events in April and May hosted by Sydney North PHN, Hunter New England & Central Coast NSW PHN, Coordinare South Eastern NSW PHN and Capital Health Network to come.
Why this matters:
The overuse of psychiatric medications has become a growing concern for key healthcare and regulatory bodies, including the NDIS Commission, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Both the Disability Royal Commission and the Aged Care Royal Commission have emphasised the need for a nationwide effort to reduce this overuse.
Dr Horowitz will provide valuable insights into how to use the evidence-based hyperbolic tapering approach outlined in The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines: Antidepressants, Benzodiazepines, Gabapentinoids and Z-drugs to safely reduce or stop the use of psychotropic medications, whilst managing withdrawal symptoms and ensuring patient safety.
The newly released Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines provide a practical, evidence-based framework for healthcare professionals to safely deprescribe psychotropic medications in every day clinical practice. Endorsed as an accepted clinical resource by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), the Guidelines addresses a crucial gap by offering clinicians clear guidance on the safe reduction or discontinuation of these medications.
About Dr Mark Horowitz:
Dr Horowitz is an Australian London-based Clinical Research Fellow in Psychiatry with the National Health Services (NHS) in the UK and a Visiting Lecturer in Psychopharmacology at King’s College London. He runs a dedicated psychiatric drug deprescribing clinic in the NHS and is working with NHS England to provide resources on deprescribing psychiatric drugs for all NHS prescribers in England. He wrote the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ guidance on “Stopping Antidepressants” and his work informed the NICE guidance on this topic. He holds a PhD in the neurobiology of depression and antidepressant action and is an expert in psychiatric medication withdrawal.
What is deprescribing?
Deprescribing is a positive, patient-centred intervention carried out under medical supervision. It involves reassessing the role of all medicines to determine if any should be stopped - whether they no longer provide clear benefits, may cause harm, are being used for a condition that is no longer relevant or no longer align with the patient's current goals of care.