Pharmacists should ask to see methotrexate dose booklet
Pharmacists supplying medicines to patients taking methotrexate should ask to see their blood monitoring and dosage record booklet and use it to identify potential problems, the National Patient Safety Agency's head of safety solutions has suggested.
Wendy Harris told The Journal that the NPSA would like all pharmacists
to be aware of the document, which was published
earlier this year (PJ,
10 June, p672). She explained that patients need to retain the document
because of variations in service provision across England and Wales.
“Should any problems be identified we hope [the booklet] will inform
the pharmacist’s discussion with the patient, prescriber or clinic,” she
said.
Ms Harris added that the booklet is a good source of information for
pharmacists to check dose changes and to confirm that the patient is
attending for routine blood monitoring.
The NPSA does not expect pharmacists to issue the booklets; rather they
should be given to patients by the initiating specialist when methotrexate
therapy is started.
“If pharmacists identify patients who do not hold a copy of the
document, then they should be communicating this matter to the prescriber
or clinic
and working with them perhaps to further develop local shared-care protocols
and pharmacy’s role within these.”
A PDF (490K)
version of the booklet is available from the NPSA website. |
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