Revolution Pharmd suggests that there should be a Pharmacist in each GP surgery.Revolution Pharmd suggests that there should be a Pharmacist in each GP surgery.
5% of prescriptions written by GPs contain a mistake. Nowadays
GPs are so busy that repeat prescribing is not one of their priorities
(worrying, but true). Increasing pressures,the time that GPs have to review
patients’ medicines and sign prescriptions is gradually being eroded. At the
same time, patients are living longer — with an increasing number of long-term
conditions and more complex pharmaceutical regimens.
Do GPs really have the
time and expertise to dedicate to this? I really don’t think so.
Pharmacist can help them to reduce
the costs of their prescribing, auditing the quality, safety and efficacy of
prescribing, running clinics (which usually involve a review of patients’
medicines) and authorising repeat prescriptions.We can offer a full-time role in a
GP surgery,we should show them that
having a pharmacist doing this would help improve quality and safety, as well
as help lower prescribing costs. It makes perfect sense for us to take on this
role, which GPs find onerous and time-consuming.
Research suggests that prescribing
errors can be reduced by up to 50% by having in-house pharmacists in GP
surgeries. Knowing that prescribing errors can have a detrimental effect on patient
care, which can in turn lead to costly hospital admissions, this model of care
should surely be rolled out nationally.Surgeries should employ medicines
management Pharmacists to help reduce the burden of prescribing, run clinics
for long-term conditions, perform face-to-face medication reviews, reauthorise
repeat prescriptions, deal with medication-related queries from patients and
colleagues, and carry out audits to help improve the safety and effectiveness
of prescribing.
So, the
simple solution would be for every GP
surgery to have a practice pharmacist (a suggestion made by RevolutionPharmd).
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