Repeat dispensing is key to pharmacy care
Repeat dispensing is the key to providing pharmaceutical
care, according to Alison Strath, chairman of the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society’s Scottish Executive. It provides a platform on which to build
quality.
Miss Strath was speaking at a Young Pharmacists
Group session on medicines management. She said that repeat prescriptions
account for 75 per cent of all items on prescription and 80 per cent of
prescribing costs. Repeat dispensing pilots in Grampian and Tayside have
shown that pharmacists pick up previously undetected compliance problems,
adverse drug reactions and drug interactions. Moreover, in Grampian, 66
per cent of patients on repeat medication did not require their quota
of Controlled Drugs.
An review has commissioned to establish a best practice
model for repeat dispensing. Three options are being investigated. The
first is a “master and slave” model, where a general practitioner writes
a prescription for six months’ supply and the pharmacist dispenses the
prescription in smaller instalments. The other two options are two three-monthly
instalments or using carbon copied forms. The first model is probably
best, as it is nearest to what pharmacists do now, Miss Strath concluded.
Back to Top
|
