Medication review

This programme will help pharmacy teams to develop the confidence, competence and communication skills to work in partnership with patients and other healthcare professionals to enable patients to get the most from their multiple medicines.

#CPPEpolypharmacy

Learning Objectives:

• explain the terminology associated with polypharmacy and what it means for patients and the healthcare team
• identify the causes and consequences of polypharmacy, in particular in relation to older people and the wider NHS
• describe how polypharmacy fits with the medicines optimisation agenda
• identify how you could use decision-making tools and strategies to support your practice
• use effective communication and consultation skills to undertake patient-centred discussions
• develop your own approach, relevant to your area of practice, to support patients on multiple medicines
• identify the common medicines that cause problematic polypharmacy and patient hospital admissions
• prioritise, in conjunction with the patient, what interventions to make by taking a holistic approach to optimising patient care.

If you are currently, or have been, enrolled on the NHS England funded Foundation practice, Clinical Pharmacists in General Practice, Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes or Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathways you should not enrol on this SMR e-course. The reason for this is that the learning on these pathways will already have given you the skills and knowledge you need to provide SMRs under the specification of the Network DES.

The overall aim of this course is to equip you with the knowledge, skills and behaviours that you need to begin undertaking person-centred structured medication reviews.

Learning Objectives:

• describe the importance of shared decision making and recognise its value in the structured medication review process
• identify gaps in the information needed to undertake structured medication review
• use evidence-based reference sources appropriately to support clinical decision making
• demonstrate clinical knowledge of the most commonly used medicines in the treatment of long-term conditions
• develop an appropriate level of clinical judgement and skills to provide prioritised recommendations to a prescriber resulting from a structured medication review.

This programme aims to help you to develop your knowledge and skills to improve your confidence and competence in working with patients and other health and social care professionals to enable patients to get the best possible outcomes when they are taking multiple medicines.

Learning Objectives:

• explain the terminology associated with polypharmacy and what it means for patients and the health and social care team
• list the causes and consequences of polypharmacy in relation to the patient, their carer and the wider NHS
• identify medicines that cause problems for patients with polypharmacy and triggers that may indicate that polypharmacy is problematic
• explain the main considerations when stopping a patient's medicines, what barriers might exist and how to overcome these
• describe how you could use decision-making tools and strategies to support your practice when consulting with patients on multiple medicines
• explain how you could undertake patient-centred discussions about polypharmacy with patients during a medication review or medicines use review
• work in partnership with the patient to prioritise interventions and agree referral strategies
• identify and apply suitable resources and tools to support you in identifying polypharmacy issues and solutions as part of your clinical judgement and experience
• describe the process of shared decision-making and recognise its value in supporting adherence in patients taking multiple medicines
• identify a change you could make to your practice to improve your approach to managing polypharmacy.

Enhancing the communication and consultation skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians has been identified as a priority by Health Education England. This downloadable programme forms part of the core learning for the Consultation skills for pharmacy practice programme.

Learning Objectives:

• explain the concept of patient-centred care
• describe the key communication and consultation skills and techniques required to conduct patient-centred care
• apply methods to assess your own practice and identify areas of improvement
• support patients, by using a patient-centred approach, to help them get the best from their medicines and/or in making healthy lifestyle choices
• further develop your practice by exploring tools and techniques, such as health coaching.

This guideline covers safe and effective use of medicines in health and social care for people taking 1 or more medicines.

This guideline covers optimising care for adults with multimorbidity (multiple long-term conditions) by reducing treatment burden (polypharmacy and multiple appointments) and unplanned care.

Pills is part of the Power of people, our award-winning series of short films about life-changing health care innovation.

The Consultation skills for pharmacy practice (CSfPP) website has been developed in association with Health Education England to support pharmacy professionals in developing patient-centred consultation practice; it presents a six-step learning and development pathway with useful tools and resources to support personal reflection, learning and assessment.

You can access this website here: Consultation skills for pharmacy practice

Learning Objectives:

• explain why consultation skills are important for all pharmacy professionals
• recognise your professional responsibility to reflect on and develop your consultation skills, by working towards the new practice standards
• establish how productive your consultation skills are currently and identify key areas on which to build your expertise
• describe and apply the key skills, models and techniques that support a patient-centred approach to your consultation practice
• engage in the CSfPP assessment process to review your learning and development effectively
• explore how you can continue to develop your skills and behaviours in practice.

Consultations with older people are commonplace in pharmacy practice, but increasing complexity around medicines and conditions can present challenges. Supporting the older person in making decisions around their medicines and health while promoting dignity and respect is a vital part of the role of every healthcare professional.

This workshop is part of the Consultation skills for pharmacy practice programme which you can access via the Consultation skills for pharmacy website. It will support you in adapting your consultation to the needs of the older person to ensure a patient-centred approach.

Learning Objectives:

• describe the issues that make the consultation with the older person different
• appreciate and respect the perspective of the older person when discussing their medicines and health
• describe the key skills and behaviours that are essential to ensure older people are considered with respect and dignity
• adopt the key practice standards that will support you in demonstrating a person-centred approach when consulting with older people
• complete a self-reflection form to support you in developing your practice.

In this programme you will consider what is different about consulting with people with mental health problems and how you can prepare for and approach these consultations so that people get the most benefit from them.

Learning Objectives:

• describe the mental health treatment gap and the importance of parity of esteem (valuing mental health equally with physical health)
• recognise the impact of stigma and discrimination experienced by those with mental health problems
• select the key national practice standards most applicable to pharmacy consultations with people with mental health problems
• reflect on your consultations with people experiencing mental health problems
• maximise the effectiveness of your consultations in this field by applying person-centred skills and behaviours
• identify possible risks in your consultations with people with mental health problems.

In this assessment you will look at two cases. In the first case you will meet Sylvia Shipley, a lady who has atrial fibrillation and osteoarthritis and has had a recent fall. In the second case you will meet Mervyn Kennedy, a gentleman who was diagnosed with COPD eight years ago.

Before you begin, please download the assessment guidance document here .

Why should I do this assessment?

In this assessment you will look at two cases. In the first case you will meet Sylvia Shipley, a lady who has atrial fibrillation and osteoarthritis and has had a recent fall. In the second case you will meet Harold Washington, a man with type 2 diabetes.

Before you begin, please download the assessment guidance document here .

Why should I do this assessment?

In this assessment you will look at two cases. In the first case you will meet Rakesh Patel who complains of back pain and low mood. In the second case you will meet Sylvia Shipley, a lady who has atrial fibrillation and osteoarthritis and has had a recent fall.

Before you begin, please download the assessment guidance document here .

Why should I do this assessment?

In this assessment you will look at two cases. In the first case you will meet Rakesh Patel who complains of back pain and low mood. In the second case you will meet Mervyn Kennedy, a gentleman who was diagnosed with COPD eight years ago.

Before you begin, please download the assessment guidance document here .

Why should I do this assessment?

In this assessment you will look at two cases. In the first case you will meet Rakesh Patel who complains of back pain and low mood. In the second case you will meet Harold Washington, a man with type 2 diabetes.

Before you begin, please download the assessment guidance document here .

Why should I do this assessment?

In this assessment you will look at two cases. In the first case you will meet Mervyn Kennedy, a gentleman who was diagnosed with COPD eight years ago. In the second case you will meet Harold Washington, a man with type 2 diabetes.

Before you begin, please download the assessment guidance document here .

Why should I do this assessment?

This report proposes a pragmatic approach, offering the terms ‘appropriate’ and ‘problematic’ polypharmacy to help define when polypharmacy can be beneficial.