More face-to-face medicines reviews are needed
Face-to-face reviews allow concordance |
Although 60 per cent of primary care trusts are achieving, or expect to achieve, medicines review targets specified in the National Service Framework for Older People more patient involvement is needed, according to a report published by Medicines Partnership this week.
An evaluation of the impact of “Room for review — a guide
to medication review”, which was published in 2002, was carried
out to determine how widely it has been adopted and to what extent it
has advanced patient involvement in decisions about medicines.
Part of the evaluation was a survey sent to PCT prescribing leads in
England. A total of 153 responses was received and almost 90 per cent
of respondents were pharmacists.
The survey showed that “Room for review” has been widely
adopted, with 79 per cent of respondents reporting that their organisation
uses the guide’s definitions of levels of medicines reviews. However,
the evaluation showed that the number of face-to-face (level 3) reviews
was limited, with most reviews consisting of a review of notes or prescriptions.
Workshops held as part of the research revealed that there is concern
that GPs, who still carry out most reviews, do not prioritise the need
to “reach agreement” with the patient and see face-to-face
reviews as expensive and difficult to achieve. The report suggests that
this could be because level 3 reviews are not seen as necessary to reach
NHS targets and are not specified in policy documents or the new general
medical services contract.
The report recommends that more work is needed to develop and disseminate
the evidence for face-to-face reviews to convince PCT managers and GPs
of their value.
Geraldine Mynors, head of projects, Medicines Partnership, told The
Journal that 50 per cent of medicines for long-term conditions are not taken
as prescribed and that for most patients, this is a conscious decision. “It
is important that patients should be involved in decisions about their
own treatment and many key decisions are made during a medication review.” She
added: “Medicines use review [an advanced service under the new
pharmacy contract] is a fantastic opportunity for GPs to make use of
pharmacists to carry out face-to-face reviews on their behalf.”
The full report can be accessed here |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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