That is supposed to be what a pharmacist does. Every time I end up in hospital, the pharmacist there reviews my medication as a matter of course.
My GP when prescribing has some sort of app that checks what I am already on, to look for interactions.
Even my pulmonary nurse was dubious 'this can give you nightmares' she said. Well it can, and does, and very amusing they are too.
No. He is not wrong. It is all down to how conscientious and /or rushed the doctor is My current GP is no Dr House, but by golly is she conscientious. And she doesn't talk down to me.
Well my practice has *something*. Since my meds are all online, it looks at interactions to see which ones may interact
A large part of a GPs knowledge base needs to be pharmacology anyway, and the dispensing chemist is supposed top know as well
And swallow the Sellotape as well?
I rather thought that saving a fortune on incorrect prescribing was what the pharmacist was employed for. As it turned out, I was a cleverer cunt than him and managed to avoid being compromised by his cavalier attitude to prescribing medications.
Sometimes
Sadly that is a reflection on the pharmacist, rather than you.
Your experience and procedure appear to be very different from mine. I order a repeat prescription useing the NHS app, it is approved by a doctor and issued to the pharmacist. When I collect a copy of the prescription is included. At intervals, don't remember the last time, I am asked to complete an online form that essentially determines that my health is unaltered from the last time, and the prescription is renewed.
Having seen one or two of the computer based questionnaires that the NHS has spent (no doubt a lot of) money on, the result would be a useless pile of expensive crap.
Same here except the Surgery is required (by the health authority) to review annually, which involves blood tests and a (phone) consultation with either a GP or their Pharmacist.
They have, over the years, invested very heavily in enriching software firms' shareholders, without any discernible results.
Actually that's not *totally* fair..
And they had to navigate a LOT of security concerns about access to peoples private medical data
*Most* of my medical records are online. Even "I think my husband has brain damage" from my ex....Lovely girl. Not an ounce of spite in her...MOST patient letters are online. Most of the data is shared between the local hospital and the GP, but Addenbrookes - which I have attended for some stuff - and Papworth, are not on the same system.
The GPs definitely use some software to check drug inter-reactions. A lot of notifications arrive by email and/or text message
So really its about halfway there
It probably is anually in my case but I don't bother to keep track.
Software development is expensive. It is only economic at scale. Someone will get it right eventually. Then everyone will use it.
I think most GP systems were capitalist funded in a competitive market. Looked through the lens of secondary care I would estimate we are about 5 percent "there".
Here, the due date for a review (not often met) is printed on each prescription (both the paperwork and the medication cartons).
I'm on repeat prescription of rest-of-life medication following a heart attack and cardiac arrest 15 years ago.
I've never seen an actual prescription, as a piece of paper, because at all three doctors' practices (changed due to house moves) there is an in-house dispensary so the authorisation goes directly from GP to dispensary, and after I have ordered a new month of tablets using the Patient Access website, all I hear is a text from them a few days later saying "ready for collection". I get a "receipt" confirming what is included (tablet and dose). (*)
My present GP has a "cashpoint-like" machine on the outside wall (so you can use it when the practice is closed). You enter an authorisation code which they text you (different each time) and a minute later, after lots of whirring, the bag of tablets pops out.
(*) At a previous practice, I was once given a receipt for another patient's drugs, which told me her name and address and what medication she was on. *Very* bad :-( I played hell with them because it is a very clear breach of GDPR and of good pharmacy practice. When the pharmacist tried to play it down, I lodged an official complaint with the practice manager, saying "take this seriously or my next step will be to contact the GMC". I stressed that I didn't want to see anyone disciplined - mistakes can occur - but I did want them to take action (training, supervision, second-pair-of-eyes check) to make sure it never happened again. My mum had worked in hospital pharmacy for many years and she said that anyone who had given paperwork relating to a different patient would have been for the high-jump! She said that even qualified pharmacists asked for someone - even a "mere" technician - to check their work... just in case. That was in the days when prescriptions were handwritten in "doctor's handwriting" in Latin - "bds/tds" (bis/ter die sumendum) = 2/3 times a day, "qs" (quantum satis) = as much as is needed (eg instruction on an ointment "apply as much as you need to alleviate the symptoms")
Can't think of any software where that last has ever happened
Mate of mine's dad who was blind was killed quite literally in a nursing home when given a loony's meds in that nursing home
I didn't realise that those meds could kill someone
Not clear what happened to who handed the meds to the inmates
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