Helping patients take their medication
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Healthwatch Wokingham Borough undertook research to find out if pharmacies were supplying medication compliance aids (MCA)to people who had been assessed as needing them. They were alerted to the potential problem by Age UK Berkshire.
They carried out an audit of 28 pharmacies in Wokingham Borough in July and August 2018 to understand if this was an issue affecting other vulnerable residents across the area and assess its extent.
They found that most pharmacies in Wokingham Borough are not taking any new customers who require MCAs. The most common concerns voiced by pharmacies were dispensing time, resource constraints, manageability (storage space and GP prescribing periods) and fulfilling their legal obligation to patients.
There seemed to be a genuine desire to help those who are vulnerable and need assistance with their medication, but many are unable to provide this service. Key issues identified were: Lack of time and staff resource; GPs prescribing for longer periods of time rather than weekly and lack of information.
There were no recommendations