The team at Lincolnshire Co-op reveal why they’re taking part in Ask Your Pharmacist Week

Here at Lincolnshire Co-op, we’re gearing up for Ask Your Pharmacist Week which runs from November 5 to 12.

The AYP theme this year ‘let’s talk medicines safety’ really resonates for us because patient safety is at the centre of all we do and we pride ourselves on the quality of our conversations with patients. It’s important that patients feel able to ask our pharmacists anything at all about their medicines, health and wellbeing. In particular we want to promote joint decision-making – with patients and carers playing a more active role in their medication management and comfortable to raise any concerns they may have.

As well as the main aim of the campaign – improving safe medicines use amongst our patients – there are other benefits from taking part.

One of the outcomes we hope to see by taking part in AYP Week is an increased number of patients making good use of MURs and NMS in our pharmacies.  The calls to action go something like this:  If you have been newly prescribed a medicine by your doctor, talk with your local pharmacist to understand how it works in your body and how best to take it; if you have been taking the same medicines for a long time, talk with your pharmacist about whether they are still working to best effect; if you have recently been discharged from hospital, check your medicines with your local pharmacist, because errors sometimes happen when patients move between care settings.

A week is just a week of course, and at Lincolnshire Co-op we participate actively in public campaigns like this all year round to help care for the health and wellbeing of our communities.  It helps to constantly reinforce the message that community pharmacists are accessible and approachable medicine experts.

In addition to using the core materials provided by the NPA in promoting our services during AYP week, we are also creating our own videos, which explain what MURs are, and creating our own MUR and NMS leaflets and posters.

The NPA is making free of charge resources available to you, and they are easy to use, so check out www.npa.co.uk/ayp2018 and get involved!