Medicines review to be updated

Healthwatch Sefton, the local independent health and social care champion, has recently released a report which details the feedback it received from People First Merseyside about accessing repeat prescription services in Sefton both via their GP surgeries and chemists.

Members of People First Merseyside, a membership organisation led by and for people with a learning disability, initially raised this as an issue at Healthwatch Sefton’s South and Central Sefton Community Champion network meeting due to the new changes introduced around repeat prescriptions. It was then escalated to the Healthwatch Sefton Steering group as a cause of concern.

People First Merseyside members highlighted several issues which included:

Needing help to reorder repeat prescriptions when their pharmacist was able to do this with them previously; Members being without medication because they did not understand when it was
time to reorder.

The report requests both NHS South Sefton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Southport and Formby CCG to work together with local GP surgeries to consider a number of recommendations including:

Training for all staff to help them support patients with learning disabilities; Ensure safe practice is in place at GPs for people with learning disabilities to
ensure they are not left without medication;

Ensure GP staff are aware that the use of 48 hours for repeat prescriptions was a barrier for members as they did not understand this term.

Diane Blair, Healthwatch Sefton Manager, recently attended the CCG’s Engagement & Patient Experience Group (EPEG) meeting in October where the report was also discussed.

Susanne Lynch, the CCG’s head of medicines management, stated during the meeting that a “review of the scheme, and its impact on vulnerable patients, would be widened out as a result of the Healthwatch People First report and that will pick up some of the wider medicines management points highlighted in its findings”.

In its official response to the report, Fiona Taylor, Chief Officer of NHS South Sefton Clinical Commissioning Group, said:

“The CCGs medicines management team has already begun to carry out a further focused review to understand how vulnerable patients are managing the changes in the way their repeat medicines are now ordered.”

The report can be found on the Healthwatch Sefton website under the Report tab – visit www.healthwatchsefton.co.uk

Sefton residents can also leave their feedback on health and social care services anonymously on the website’s Feedback Centre. Maureen Kelly, chair of Healthwatch Sefton, explains:

“As with other local Healthwatch around the country, we are the eyes and ears of health and social care services and we can only help to improve them by hearing what people have to say. If you have something to feedback, then we would be happy to hear it.”