Getting the medication balance right

Health Innovation North West Coast has helped set up a network of clinicians dedicated to tackling problems associated with the inappropriate prescribing of medicines.

Communities of practice specialising in polypharmacy are now well established in the region and helping to deliver the national programme known as Getting the balance right.

The network’s focus is on reducing the number of patients aged 74 and over who take 10 or more medicines, and its work has been driven by three core principles: population health management, education and training, and public behaviour change.

An action learning set, aimed at sharing best practice and enriching knowledge about polypharmacy, recruited 111 members, while three people completed ‘train the trainer’ courses.

Among those to complete the train the trainer course was Dr Amy Hilton, a GP partner at Bridge Road Medical Centre in Litherland, Sefton, most of whose catchment area is in the top 20 per cent most deprived areas in England.

Dr Hilton completed a project to reduce the prescribing of controlled drugs, specifically anxiolytics and hypnotics. You can read here case study here.

The polypharmacy work supports the national programme which helps pharmacists and other healthcare professionals who undertake prescribing to understand the complex issues around stopping inappropriate medicines safely.

Nicola Cartwright, joint Lead for the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Polypharmacy Programme, said: “Health Innovation North West Coast has supported us with the educational elements of the polypharmacy programme.

“The communities of practice and clinical masterclasses are an excellent way for clinicians to share best practice and their experiences with colleagues.”

The Health Innovation Network has published a guide to tackling problematic polypharmacy and overprescribing. Download the guide here.