Pharmacy
The PCN is working hard to recruit a team of clinical pharmacists and pharmacy technicians across the surgeries in West Dorset to develop a specialist pharmacy team.
Clinical Pharmacists are highly qualified health professionals who train for many years to become specialists in medicines and how they work. They can work directly with you, as part of the general practice team, to make sure your medicines help you get better and stay well.
Having a clinical pharmacist in your practice team means that you can be treated by the best professional for your needs.
What do the pharmacy team do?
- Discuss with people the medications they are taking for one or more long-term conditions such as asthma or diabetes to make sure they are working for them. They may also provide lifestyle advice to help manage these conditions.
- Discuss side effects associated with medications that a person may be taking, working with the individual to find a solution such as changing the medication or dosage.
- Undertake structured medication reviews for people who are taking multiple medications concurrently in practices, care homes and residential settings. The aim of these medication reviews is to review all a person’s medications, discuss how they are working and carry out health checks and make changes to medications or dosages where appropriate.
- If medications have been changed following a stay in hospital, the pharmacy team can help implement and explain these changes, ensuring the person gets the maximum benefit from them.
- Ensures medication safety for people on high risk medications.
- Develops medication protocols and guidelines for the PCN practices, improving prescribing value and quality.
- Provide educational training and mentorship to peers and wider healthcare teams.