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Ask Your Pharmacist www.askyourpharmacist.co.uk. A package of care, not just a packet of pills. Home to a uniquely accessible workforce of healthcare professionals. Every day, about 1.8 million people visit a pharmacy 84% of adults visit a pharmacy at least once a year
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Ask Your Pharmacist www.askyourpharmacist.co.uk
Home to a uniquely accessible workforce of healthcare professionals • Every day, about 1.8 million people visit a pharmacy • 84% of adults visit a pharmacy at least once a year • 99% of the population can get to their local pharmacy within 20 minutes • People visit pharmacies x4 more frequently than they visit their GP
All pharmacies provide these services: • Dispensing of Medicines • Repeat Dispensing • Waste Management • Signposting • Support for Self-Care • Clinical Governance
Some pharmacies may also run the following services: • Medicine Use Reviews • New Medicine Service • Stop smoking • Weight management • Flu and pneumococcal vaccination • Test and treat for chlamydia • Health checks
Services to help support people with long term conditions...
The New Medicine Service (NMS) • Who is the service aimed at? • What does it involve? • How long will it take? • How can I access the service? • Do all pharmacies offer this service?
Medicines Use Review • Who is this service aimed at? • What does the service involve? • How do I arrange an MUR? • Do all pharmacies offer the service?
Why do pharmacy staff ask so many questions? Have you taken the medicine before? Are you taking any other medication? What are your symptoms? Who is the medicine for?
The Pharmacist Qualification Regulation All pharmacists must be registered with the regulator in order to practice Maintain registration – annual Operate within legal and ethical requirements Ongoing professional development • 4 year Master of Pharmacy degree course • 1 year pre-registration training • Registration exam to register as practicing pharmacist • 24 schools of pharmacy in UK
Pharmacy support staff • Mandatory training and registration with GPhC • Pharmacy technicians • Accuracy checking technicians • Dispensers
A survey conducted by the National Pharmacy Association found that risks and benefits of many common medicines are widely misunderstood...
Medicine myths... • One in five thinks that it can be beneficial to give your body a medicines ‘detox’, by occasionally stopping taking your regular medicines for a long term medical condition. Doing this can seriously impair health in the short and long term • Nearly a third of people think it is OK to share any medicine that is not on prescription. In fact, this can be dangerous, even with common cough and cold remedies • Others think that it is OK to give adult medication to a child, so long as the dosage is reduced – this is incorrect and potentially dangerous • 50% of people think the flu vaccine can cause flu. This is a longstanding myth that could stop some people who are in ‘at-risk’ categories from getting the protection they need • One in ten admits to never checking that medicines are still in date. Medicines can become increasingly less effective once they pass their expiry date.
Get rid of the medicine myths... Ask your pharmacist • The benefits of a frank and full conversation with a health care professional about your medicines can be substantial. • If the pharmacist has the full picture, he can advise you more effectively and you’ll get the most out of your medicine. • You’re also less likely to suffer harm through inappropriate use of medicines. • Most pharmacies now have consultation areas where you can sit down and talk with the pharmacist about your medicines.