Medication Review Clinic

What is Medication Review?

-A medication review is a chance to check that your medicines are the best ones for you.

-It is also a chance for you to ask questions about your medicines.

-It is a good practice to have medicines reviewed at least once a year.

Medication review clinic, run by a Consultant Geriatrician, lasts about 60 minutes and addresses the following issues:

1. Overprescribing: review of every medicine, weighing the risks and benefits, and discontinue unnecessary medicines with appropriate advice on how to avoid medication withdrawal problems. 

2. Underprescribing: review of medical conditions and assessing whether there is omission of needed medication for the established diagnosis.

3. Compliance problems: substituting complex medication regimens for simpler ones. Changing old medicines (prescribed 20-25 years ago) with higher side effect profile for newer cleaner alternatives if available. Some medicines get outdated as new research evidence becomes available.

4. Patient/caregiver education: a detailed explanation is given with regards to possible side effects of medicines, the expected benefits of the drug, requirements for monitoring and dosage adjustments.

How should you prepare for your clinic appointment?

When you come to your medication review clinic please bring along all of your medicines. This includes the medicines you get on prescription from your doctor as well as herbal remedies and medicines you buy from the chemist and supermarket. By medicines we mean anything you take including tablets, liquids, inhalers, creams and ointments. Please also bring along medicines you no longer take. 

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