The use of medicines is the most common therapeutic intervention in the NHS. Around 15-20% of a commissioning organisation’s money is spent on medicines.
In the twelve months from April 2021 to May 2022, 21.5 million prescription items were dispensed for patients within Birmingham and Solihull at a cost of approximately £193 million.
Medicines optimisation looks at the value which medicines deliver, ensuring people get the right medicine, at the right time, and are engaged in the process by their clinical team. The goal of medicines optimisation is to support people to:
- Improve their outcomes
- Take their medicines correctly
- Avoid taking unnecessary medicines
- Reduce wastage of medicines
- Improve medicines safety
You can find more information on medicines optimisation in this information for patients, produced by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE).