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Asked by Maariya on 15 Mar 2022.
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Jess Li answered on 15 Mar 2022:
We are seeing more and more patients with multiple health problems (comorbidities) and are often on numerous medications. One of the roles of the GP is to help patients to navigate through this and to bring all of the various strands together. This brings complexity and being a GP now is very different to what it might have been like 20 years ago. It is also very rewarding work and if a patient can see a regular GP who knows all about their health problems, they like this very much (this is often difficult though to provide continuity). Hope I’ve answered this ok and got the gist of your question correct!
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Anita Raja answered on 15 Mar 2022:
We see patients with multiple health care needs all the time in GP . Most of the elderly patients have multiple diseases . Yet medical school and then speciality training equips you with the knowledge you need so it’s never difficult but yes challenging ( yet doable ) .
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Jamie Hynes answered on 15 Mar 2022:
What an incredible set of questions you’ve been asking within this section Maariya, but I think with this one it illustrates what General Practice is becoming.
It is now normal for patients to have multiple conditions and multiple medications; some that interact with each other and it poses a risk.
Our professional judgement is used to determine which treatment combination results in the most benefit or the least harm, and patients are involved in that conversation.
I hope that helps! -
Aaliya Goyal answered on 18 Mar 2022:
It’s not unusual for a patient to have several medications that may appear to be a hazardous combination. We can use our experience but also we have systems in place, such as on the computer where we write the medications up, and using books of medications (such as one called thew BNF) to make sure that combinations aren’t harmful. I often seek advice from the other members of the team in the practice and community pharmacists. It’s important to check when you are not sure. Its impossible to know all combinations but there are plenty of people who specialise in managing medication as well as the GP who are happy to help.
Comments
Maariya commented on :
Yes, it was perfect! Thank you so much 🙂
Samantha commented on :
And to support Jess’s answer, that’s where the Pharmacy Team help by working with the GPs to help maintain safe prescribing and reviewing patients medications.
Anna commented on :
There is a process to go through – but yes I agree speak with the experts (pharmacy team)