Patients fear they are taking medication 'incorrectly'

One in five Irish patients are currently taking two or more medicines and 23% of those are concerned that they are not taking their medicines correctly.

Vice-president of the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) Liz Hoctor, who made a presentation today to the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on the Adverse Side Effects of Pharmaceuticals said: “It is very worrying that patients are concerned that they are not taking their medicines correctly,” said Ms Hoctor.

"If people are not taking their medicines properly, they are less likely to get better and more likely to end up in hospital.”

Ms Hoctor compared the Irish situation with that in the UK. “In the UK, preventable drug reactions are implicated in up to 17% of hospital admissions in older patients. Many of these admissions could have been prevented if patients had a better understanding and knowledge of the medication they were taking.

"Where there is a concern that a patient in Ireland is not taking the medication as prescribed and therefore not getting the benefit of the medicine, the IPU is now proposing that its members carry out medication reviews with these patients.”

At present, pharmacists are required to check each prescription for errors, drug interactions and side effects.

However, once supplied, there is no further follow-up to check compliance. The Union has been advocating the introduction of medication reviews to reduce the number of patients ending up in hospital for some time now.