New resources launched to support patients preparing for a Structured Medication Review
News
A range of new evidence-based resources has been developed as part of the AHSN Network’s national Polypharmacy programme, which is led by Health Innovation West of England. These have been designed to support and help prepare people who have been invited for a Structured Medication Review with their GP, pharmacist or other healthcare professional. The…
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Creating shared learning spaces to help clinicians address problematic polypharmacy
Blog article
Chris Learoyd is Senior Project Manager at the West of England AHSN, overseeing our medicines optimisation programmes. In this blog, Chris explores some of the work we are currently involved in to help reduce harm from medicines. Medicines safety and improvement work is complex: patients are prescribed medicines in different settings across the entire healthcare…
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Transforming asthma care across the South West of England
News
The West of England and South West AHSNs, alongside the South West Severe Asthma Network (SWSAN), have been working with 10 hospital trusts across the South West of England to improve asthma pathways and enhance access to innovative treatments for adult patients. A new evaluation shows the collaborative project, which was awarded Pathway Transformation Funding…
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Guide launched to help primary care reduce harm from opioids
News
The West of England AHSN have launched a new easy to follow guide for healthcare professionals working in primary care. The guide will support clinicians to identify patients at risk from opioid prescribing, includes templates and ideas as well as providing information on training and examples of best practice initiatives. The free guide has been produced…
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Looking ahead to World Patient Safety Day 2022 focussed on medicines safety
Blog article
Ahead of World Patient Safety Day 2022, Jan Scott, Patient Safety Programme Manager, discusses how the West of England AHSN Polypharmacy Community of Practice (CoP) is tackling the challenge to reduce severe avoidable medication related harm. The AHSN held its first CoP in August 2022 with the second scheduled for November. Polypharmacy simply means many…
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Getting the balance right on polypharmacy
Blog article
The AHSN Network recently launched the new national polypharmacy programme: getting the balance right. Here national Programme Manager, Amy Semple and Clinical Lead, Clare Howard discuss why we need to take action to address problematic polypharmacy and how the AHSN Network is supporting this important area of work. “As we live longer with more long-term…
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Polypharmacy – benefits vs risks
Blog article
Mark Gregory, our Lead Pharmacist, reflects on the risks associated with polypharmacy and the benefits of deprescribing. In 1995 only 2% of the population over the age of 65 years were prescribed 10 or more medicines. By 2010 this figure had increased to 5% and by 2018 increased further to 8%. For those over the…
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