Medicines management project progress update

Published: 24 September 2012

Medication is the most common form of medical intervention in primary and secondary care. It is estimated that four out of five people over 75 years of age take prescription medication, and 36 per cent of this cohort are taking four or more medicines. It is further estimated that up to 50 per cent of these medicines are not taken as prescribed.

The total annual prescribing budget for the NHS is approximately £12 billion (12 per cent of the entire budget for the NHS). No surprise then, that there is considerable political, managerial and professional concern about medicines wastage. But the cost of poor medicines management in human terms is more difficult to assess. Increased mortality and morbidity related to misuse of prescribed medication, the risk of adverse drug reactions and interactions have a very real human cost.

Against this backdrop, the ANP forum committee proposed a medicines management project aimed at improving care at the prescriber/patient interface.  Evidence from the 2012 ANP survey, also discussed in this newsletter, is that nurses in advanced roles have embraced non-medical prescribing in huge numbers. 76 per cent of respondents confirmed that they hold a prescribing qualification, the majority of these as independent prescribers. 

The aim of the medicines management project is to try and develop an aid, or prompt, which patients can use and which would encourage their participation in better managing their medicines. A literature review has explored the initiatives and campaigns which have already been introduced and evaluated; its purpose to identify and adapt any ideas which have proved successful. Currently work on the prompt is proceeding which will eventually be printed and trialled by interested nurse prescribers throughout the United Kingdom. In addition the project aims to produce an audit tool or guidance for nurse prescribers to demonstrate the value of their health intervention.

Further planning meetings are due in the autumn and progress will be reported through the forum newsletter. If you have any comments about the project or would eventually like to be involved in trialling this medicines prompt, please contact any member of the forum at the email addresses listed on our ‘Meet the Team’ web page.

Julie Hall, Advanced Nurse Practitioner Forum steering committee member