North East Herts MP Oliver Heald has visited a Letchworth pharmacy to lend his support to a scheme to help improve the health of local people.
Oliver met the owner of Letchworth’s Manor Pharmacy, Graham Phillips, and heard how a new pharmacy service will help patients to get the most out of their medicines and ensure better value for the NHS. Oliver has also written to the Primary Care Trust to ask how the information can reach GP surgeries more quickly.
A Medicines Use Review is a free service available from community pharmacies which assesses and explains the medicines a patient has been prescribed, what they do, how well they are working and how to get the most out of them. Half of all people are not taking their medicines correctly, meaning they might not be getting the full benefit, and could suffer side effects or harm their health.
Mr Heald welcomed the service and urged people to consider using it: “This is an easy way for people to take control of their health, ensure they are getting the best from their medicines and to stay healthy. We can also get best value from the £8 billion annual NHS bill for medicines”.
Graham Phillips said: “The Medicines Use Review is just one of a range of services we are now providing for the community through a new-look pharmacy. With private consulting areas and highly trained staff, we are able to offer a healthy living centre with stop smoking support, vascular checks and help for people to manage long-term conditions such as diabetes”.
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Contact: Martin Jee, Parliamentary Assistant to Oliver Heald MP, 020 7219 4478