Medication Reviews and Monthly Prescriptions
At West Meon Surgery, we prescribe medication for up to 4 weeks at any one time. We do this to ensure patient’s are kept safe and that wastage of medications are kept to a minimum. There may be reasons why a patient cannot safely be prescribed 4 weeks medication safely and these patients will be issued with an appropriate number of days or weeks to keep them safe, or to reduce wastage within the NHS.
A patient’s medication must be reviewed by a clinician every 6 months. The aim of the medication review is to check that the patient is prescribed the most appropriate medicines and that the patient gets the most benefits out of those medicines. During the medication review, all aspects of the patient’s health will be considered as well as the balance between the benefits and risks of, and alternatives of, taking medicines.
The GP will ensure the potential for harm outweighs any benefits from the medicines and that patients fully understand the implications of the medication regime they are taking. The GP will consider:
- medicines that are no longer clinically indicated or appropriate or optimised for that person
- combination of multiple medicines has the potential to, or is actually causing harm to the person
- practicalities of using the medicines become unmanageable or are causing harm or distress
The benefits of reviewing medications, especially for patients on multiple medications (polypharmacy) are:
- improved experience and quality of care through being involved in the decision-making process and having a better understanding of the medicines they take
- less risk of harm from medicines (e.g. adverse drug events, side effects, hospitalisation or addiction)
- better value for local health systems (e.g. reduced medicine waste).
Tests may be made to determine whether the medicine is working (e.g. blood pressure checks) and monitoring may be necessary for the type of medication that a patient is taking. Medication reviews are a planned activity and therefore will be booked as a routine appointment. Patients will be aware their medication review is due because:
- On the 6th month issue of medication, the dispenser will mark the prescription boxes and bag they are contained in with a red star.
- When the patient collects their medication, they will be informed that they need to book a medication review in the next 4 weeks and that this must have taken place before they are dispensed with further medication.
- If the patient fails to book a meds review an emergency prescription is made up (ie a 7th month issue) and the patient will be advised by the dispenser that it is essential they book a medication review as they will not get any more medication until a review takes place.
- If the patient still fails to book an appointment and runs out of medication, then no further issue is to be made until an appointment is booked. This final prescription will give adequate medication to take the patient to the date of their appointment plus 48 hours
- Following their medication review, the GP will reauthorise the patient’s medication and the dispensary can then issue medications for the patient to collect.