A medication review is a private, confidential meeting between you and a GP or another suitably qualified health professional to discuss your medicines. The discussion may take place over the phone or in person. The aim of the medication review is to check that you are prescribed the most appropriate medicines and that you get the best out of those medicines.
Tests may be made to determine whether the medicine is working (e.g. blood pressure checks). Monitoring may be necessary for the type of medication that you are on.
You will be asked how you are getting on with your medicines; so inform your health professional of any problems you may be experiencing with your medicines. You will have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have about your medicines. If any changes need to be made to your medication, your agreement will be sought before changes are made.
A record of the review will be documented in your medical notes.
If you do not book a medication review when requested this will result in restrictions to ongoing prescription requests until such time that a medication review has been completed. This is to ensure that we are prescribing safely on an ongoing basis.
Repeated failure to book a medication review when requested may result in the practice asking you to register with a different GP practice as we take the prescribing of medications safely as of high importance for both patient safety and the GP/patient ongoing relationship.
Preparing for your medication review
Mark the date and time of the appointment and who you are going to see/speak to for the medication review in your diary or calendar.
Make a list of all medication that you take. This includes:
- Any medicines that are prescribed for you.
- Any medicines that you no longer take.
- Any medicines that you buy over the counter from the chemist or supermarket or other stores e.g. herbal medicines, vitamins etc.
NB: If you are not able to or haven’t managed to make a medication list, bring all your medicines to the medication review meeting. If your review is over the phone, please have all of your medications to hand.
Make a list of questions that you may have about your medicines. Some questions that you may wish to consider:
- Why is it important to take this medicine(s)?
- When and how to take the medicine(s)?
- How long is the medicine(s) to be taken for?
- How do I know the medicine is working?
- What should I do if I have problems with the medicine?
- Are there any medicines or food that I should avoid taking whilst on these medicine(s)?
- What will happen if I miss a dose of the medicine or stop taking it?
After the medication review:
- Your regular GP will be informed of any medication changes agreed by you at the meeting.
- A summary of the meeting will be documented in your medical record.
- Any tests or referrals to other health care professionals if required will be agreed and acted upon.