Managing your medicines
**This service has been suspended during Covid**
We offer a medication review on all your medication including over the counter medicines. We give advice on how to use and how to get the most benefit from your medicines and ensure they are suitable for you. We also like to help educate people what their medicines are for and how best to take them e.g. one hour before food, or once a week only etc.
If you have any problems with using your medication, are experiencing side effects or want any more information on both your OTC or prescription medicines and wish to speak with one of our pharmacists for confidential advice, come in or phone for a chat.
Our pharmacists spend 5 years in training and continually update their knowledge so are ‘medication’ experts whose advice you can trust.
Some people like to receive only a weekly amount of medicines in tablet boxes as this is enough to manage at one time, so we can liaise with your GP to discuss how best to manage your medicines safely.
We have a wide range of options to help you manage medicines better including tablet splitters, travel options and monitored dosage trays.
What you can expect from the review?
Our pharmacists have undergone special training to ensure they have the knowledge and skills to provide this service.
This is a confidential appointment held in the privacy of one of our consultation rooms where you can speak with a pharmacist without being overheard. You can talk openly about your concerns and ask anything you want about your medication. Only your GP will receive a summary of the meeting.
The pharmacist may give some lifestyle advice during the discussion about
- Diet & Nutrition
- Smoking
- Physical Activity
- Alcohol
- Sexual Health
- Weight Management
The pharmacist may suggest interventions to your medication regime including:
- Advice on medicines usage (prescribed and OTC), aiming to develop improved adherence
- Effective use of ‘when required’ medication
- Ensuring appropriate use of different medicine dosage forms, e.g. inhaler type, soluble tablets
- Advice on tolerability and side effects
- Dealing with practical problems in ordering, obtaining, taking and using medicines
- Identification of items without adequate dosage instructions
- Identification of unwanted medicines (where the patient is no longer taking the medicines)
- Identification of the need for a change of dosage form to facilitate effective use
- Proposals for dose optimisation (higher strength substitution where multiple doses of lower strength products are prescribed, provided it does not interfere with the patient’s clinical management)
Our pharmacist may recommend a change to your prescription. Both you and your doctor will need to agree on any changes to your prescription, so you may be asked to make an appointment with your doctor to discuss these. No changes will be made against your will.
