"Managing Your Medicines" is a service commissioned by the Health and Social Care Board. It is a pharmacy based medication review provided to patients who are vulnerable or at risk.
The aim of this service is to:
- Undertake a clinical medication review to optimise treatment.
- Educate the patient to improve understanding of the medication prescribed.
- Support patients to ensure that both OTC and prescription medicines are used appropriately.
- Liaise with other members of the healthcare team in order to agree and implement measures to overcome any problems the patient may be experiencing and/or ensure the most appropriate therapy is being used.
The service ultimately aims to achieve the safe and cost-effective use of medication, improve medicines adherence and improve quality of life for the individual patient.
View the HSC website for full details of the service and downloadable documentation.
Pharmacists will need to be accredited in order to provide the Managing your Medicines service. In order to do this you will need to complete the distance learning pack entitled "Managing Medicines in Older People" provided by Northern Ireland Centre for Pharmacy Learning & Development (NICPLD).
This can be accessed on the NICPLD website where you will also find details of accredited courses for the Repeat Dispensing service and smoking cessation service.
The certificate received upon completion of the course must be submitted to your HSCB local office after which you can commence provision of the service. In addition, you will also need to attend the NICPLD workshop entitled "Managing Your Medicines". Places on this course are limited but you do not need to wait until completion, the service can be provided prior to attendance.
The workshop is run twice each year and dates will be announced on the NICPLD website. All distance learning courses and workshops are provided free of charge to Northern Ireland pharmacists.
