Medication Reviews - the views of patients

 

The Medicines Partnership programme is a 2-year initiative funded by the Department of Health to help improve the use of medicines in the NHS and to help patients achieve maximum benefit from their medication. This is a very important issue for all age groups, and for older people in particular, since as people get older, their use of medicines tends to increase. As part of its work, the Medicines Partnership commissioned a small piece of work to look at the views of some older people and their carers about medication reviews. It was also decided that it would be appropriate to seek the views of some younger people with long-term medical conditions as part of this project. The views of those who took part in the project are summarised in this report, which informed development of the guide "Room for Review".

 

The recent context to developing medication reviews for older people is the National Service Framework (NSF) for Older People was published in May 2001. The NSF sets a number of important standards for NHS services for older people and the use of medicines is important to each of the NSF standards. One of the standards in the NSF is specifically about "medication review". This states:

 

 

An independent researcher was commissioned and arranged a number of discussion groups with older people and their carers. The participants for these groups were recruited in two ways:

 

Participants suffered from a range of long-term medical conditions. All those involved (including those who were carers) took long-term medications, and a number of people regularly used more than 4 medications. The focus groups covered a range of topics including; compliance with medication, knowledge and experience of medication review, getting the best from the review, what was discussed in the consultation, where the consultation took place, who should be involved, what patients want from the review and how healthcare professionals can help patients get the best from the review.

 

A number of key themes emerged from the discussions; 

 

To learn more, and see exactly what patients had to say download the full report.

 

 

"Can We Help You?"  - A joint project of Age Concern Blackburn with Darwen, Blackburn with Darwen PCT and Blackburn with Darwen Social Services.

 

Background

The "Can We Help You?" project was jointly planned by Age Concern Blackburn with Darwen, Blackburn with Darwen PCT and Blackburn with Darwen Social Services with the purpose of identifying gaps in services and support for older people within the borough. It is funded by SRB5 which means that it is currently operating in specific areas of Blackburn, until September 2005.

It is delivered by means of wide ranging, in-depth interviews with people aged 55 and over, usually in the persons own home. It covers all aspects of their situation, including health, housing, environment, transport, benefits, care and social activities. The interview identifies trigger issues, with those which can be met by current provision being referred on to other agencies. Gaps in provision are collated. People can self refer or are referred by other individuals or services. To date over 260 people have been interviewed.

 

Medicines

The health aspect covers medical conditions being treated, medicines prescribed, mobility and falls, mental health, general physical wellbeing, sight and hearing.

The information gathered relating to medicines reveals:-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The findings of the project point to a number of issues that need to be considered when trying to improve the situation regarding older people and their medication.

Most older people are not aware that they should be having their medicines reviewed regularly. They may have noticed the review date that is printed on the prescription renewal form but have no idea what it means and that they have a role to play in it. Many are not aware of the range of services provided by their pharmacist and therefore target any questions related to their medicines back to their doctor. A significant number are not aware of the reason they are taking particular medicines and therefore what the effect of stopping taking them would be. They also make their own decisions about their medicines without talking to their doctor. Indeed it often seems to be a case of feeling that they need to maintain the appearance of following the doctor's directions whilst making their own decisions. For many people the prescribing of medicines is something that is done to them and not with them; they see themselves to some extent outside the process.

When asked why they do not raise questions about their medicines with their doctor the commonest responses are;

 

 

The Future

The project will continue to support the Medicines Management Collaborative by gathering relevant local data that takes into account local provision and needs. Its flexibility means that it can tailor the type of information gathered to meet the requirements of the Medicine Management Service Collaborative in improving local provision. The project will continue to feed into the collaborative a local patient perspective.

The project also provides means of getting information from the services to the patients by ensuring that up-to-date advice about how medicine issues can be resolved locally is given during the discussion of issues with the client.

The overall message that is emerging from the work of the project is that for medicine management to be successful and to achieve the desired improvements, the patient must be engaged as an equal partner in the process.

 

Bernard Styan
Project Co-ordinator "Can We Help You"
Age Concern Blackburn with Darwen

 

The report of the "Can We Help You?" project is available to download below.