STOMP

Understanding Medication Reviews and Safer Prescribing

STOMP is an NHS initiative supporting people with a learning disability, autistic people, and their families and professionals to make sure psychotropic medication is used appropriately and reviewed regularly.

This guide explains STOMP in accessible language while recognising that medication can be helpful or essential when it is prescribed for the right reason. The focus is not on stopping medication indiscriminately, but on ensuring there is a clear clinical purpose, appropriate monitoring and ongoing consideration of the person’s needs.

It includes:

What STOMP means and why it was introduced
Understanding psychotropic and antipsychotic medication
Medication used in relation to behaviour that challenges
What should happen during a medication review
Monitoring benefits and side effects
Considering unmet needs and alternatives alongside medication
Reasonable adjustments during healthcare appointments
Questions to ask at a medication review
Why medication should not be stopped suddenly without appropriate clinical advice

A practical guide to supporting informed, person-centred conversations about medication and safer prescribing.

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