Why do I need a medication review?

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Many people think that healthcare is something that happens when they visit their GP, hospital, dentist, pharmacy or local clinic. What the illustration opposite shows is that the time you spend in these healthcare settings is a tiny percentage of a patient’s daily life. (Click to enlarge.)

Sara Rigarre has Parkinson’s disease and her illustrations shows how much care is in a patient’s own control. The red dot is the time she spends with her doctor and the rest of the time, she’s on her own.

Unfortunately, you can’t take your GP home to look after you but what you can do is take your medication as prescribed to make sure it has the desired effect. Research has shown that patients fully intend to take their medication as prescribed but within just two weeks, 50% of patients are no longer doing so!
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The review will be undertaken by a trained pharmacist, nurse or GP and it’s an opportunity to fully review all the medication you take, both on prescription and bought over the counter and includes vitamins, minerals and herbal products. It’s an ideal opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have about your medication so if you have any ideas, concerns or expectations please ask away. We recommend that you spend 10 minutes before your review to jot down any questions because it’s easy to forget when you are in the review.

The review involves a number of steps to make sure the medication is still appropriate, safe and effective:

  1. Is the medication still needed? Some medications are needed to be taken for the rest of your life but some are for a short period of time e.g. pain killers before an operation, indigestion remedies and laxatives.
  2. Tests and monitoring. Before you come in for your review you may be asked to come to practice for a blood test. This can be for a number of reasons including to make sure the medication is having the desired effect or to check that your internal organs are functioning properly. E.g. some medications are not safe if your kidneys or liver are not functioning properly.
  3. Does the medications prescribed follow best evidence? Research is always being performed to make sure we understand what treatments are best for patients. This is assessed by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) who send recommendations to GPs. Part of the review is to make sure your medications follow current best practice
  4. Side effects. One of the main reason patients don’t take side medicines is due to concern about side effects. You medication review is a brilliant opportunity to discuss your concerns about potential side effects.
  5. Risk reduction. Most medications are perfectly safe is taken as prescribed. However we know that patients don’t always remember all of the conversation with their GP so we check to make sure patients take steps to minimise potential risks e.g. taking aspirin after food.
  6. Simplification. If taking your medication becomes too complicated, there’s a chance you’ll forget to take them as prescribed. So at your review, we’ll take every opportunity to simplify your medication regime if required.

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After your review we want you to:

  • understand what medicines you are taking for which condition
  • understand how you need to take your medicines to get maximum benefit
  • understand how to avoid unwanted effects
  • be confident to take your medication as prescribed and understand that  you have a key person within your surgery who you can contact with any medication related queries.

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Shaun Hockey
Pharmacist
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