Patients urged to get control of their repeat prescriptions to cut waste

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NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which plans and buys health services for 204,000 people, is intending to cut waste from repeat prescriptions which are no longer needed and save around £1.3m a year.

Most patients already order their own repeat prescriptions by dropping off their requests at their GP practice, ordering them online or sending them in by post. But around 10 per cent of people use a community pharmacy to order their repeat prescriptions for them.

The CCG has received reports that these systems have generated orders for medicines that have been stopped or are not needed, allowing stockpiles to build up in patients' homes. This is because the system often allows the same amount of everything to be ordered each month.

Unwanted medicines create a risk for patients but also waste for the NHS.

The CCG has written to the area's 38 pharmacies to outline the proposed changes and is asking its 22 GP practices to consider no longer accepting repeat prescription requests from pharmacies unless the case has been specifically discussed with the practice.

The CCG is working with practices to promote arrangements for patients to order their medicines online or put repeat prescription requests in the post if they cannot easily get to their local surgery.

The CCG and its practices will also promote a repeat dispensing service which sees GPs approving up to 12 months' worth of repeat prescriptions which are then stored at the pharmacy and dispensed monthly.

The CCG is not imposing the change on practices but supporting those that wish to go ahead.

Dr Mark Dickinson, the CCG's head of prescribing and medicines optimisation, said: "We believe that patients are best placed to know of any changes that have been made to their medicines agreed with prescribers and what medicines they have used in the past month, and can therefore order what they need.

"We expect that patients taking control of the medicines they order will improve safety and also reduce medicines waste at a time of significant financial challenge"

The CCG is asking patients to:

  • Order their own prescriptions and only order what they need
  • Check medicines dispensed by the pharmacy or delivery driver, and ask them to take back anything that is not needed
  • Tell their doctor if they have stopped taking anything on their repeat prescription so the doctor can check if the item should stay on the prescription
  • Attend review appointments with their pharmacist or doctor to see if their medicines list is still meeting the patient's needs, and is not causing problems or generating waste.

The CCG will continue to support pharmacies with their sale of over-the-counter medicines to people able to self-care, the electronic prescription service, and Think Pharmacy service that sees pharmacists advising patients on treating minor conditions. Pharmacies will still be able to collect prescriptions from practices.

Tags:
NHS Eastern Cheshire CCG, NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group
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