Let’s talk medicines – How can we make significant improvements in our prescribing in Lanarkshire? Is a prescription always the answer?

NHS Lanarkshire is launching an improvement programme and will embark on a campaign to improve the quality of prescribing practice by promoting the safe, effective and efficient use of medicines.

We are looking to engage with clinicians to identify where we can provide support to help deliver realistic medicine ideas.

The move is in line with the Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report which focuses on providing healthcare which adds value to patient care and reduces harm. It also poses the question of how we reduce unwanted variation in practice and prevent waste.

The campaign will encourage all prescribers to work with patients to consider whether all medicines are contributing positively to a patient’s health and wellbeing.

We will support prescribers to review patients on long term medication, especially those taking a large number of items.  This will ensure that patients are still benefitting from all of the medicines that they are being prescribed and that they are not at risk of side-effects due to the combination of treatments they are on.

The ‘let’s talk medicines’ public campaign will raise awareness of people across Lanarkshire who take regular medication, encouraging them to take a fresh look at the medicines they are taking and to speak to their pharmacist or GP if they have any questions or concerns.

Many people may have been taking the same repeat prescription for a while and may be unsure how effective it is or even if the medicines are still required.

We know many patients, especially those who are taking several different medicines, may be unsure why each medicine has been prescribed or how often they should be taking it. Others may experience side effects that they are worried about or have stopped taking certain medicines as they no longer think they need them but have never mentioned this to their pharmacist or GP.

Whatever the issue we want people to know that it’s always ok to ask.

Over the next financial year, NHS Lanarkshire is required to achieve efficiencies of £43m to remain within budget.  At £200m, expenditure on medicines represents around 20 per cent of NHS Lanarkshire’s overall budget.

We know from comparative figures that we spend more per head of population than any other health board in Scotland. Even if we take into account all the variables, we still have some of the highest costs with no obvious additional healthcare benefits to our population.

We will always support doing the right thing for our patients, including by providing cost-effective treatment options.

We are viewing this situation as one that provides us with an opportunity to improve or maintain quality of care whilst addressing the funding challenge that the Health Board faces.

For further information about the campaign, email PrescribingQE@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk.

Iain Wallace                                                    Christine Gilmour
Medical Director                                             Chief Pharmacist