Provision of a domiciliary service by community pharmacists

Abstract

Abstract The potential benefits of home visits by community pharmacists to housebound people with medication difficulties were examined. Sixteen community pharmacist volunteers made initial home visits to 39 patients referred by 14 general practitioners. The medication in their possession was noted, and information about the medication recorded from the medication container label, a patient medication record provided by the referring sugery and the patients' own knowledge. In 35 cases there were discrepancies between the medicines in the patient's possession, those they were currently taking and those listed on the patient medication record. Non-adherence, medication hoarding and adverse drug reactions were found. After each visit a summary was sent to the patient's GP and dispensing pharmacist. GP intervention was requested for 25 patients and dispensing pharmacist intervention for 17. Follow-up visits to 18 patients one month later showed that 37 per cent of suggested GP interventions and 50 per cent of suggested dispensing pharmacist interventions had been acted on. Feedback was received from the visiting pharmacists during a meeting and from the GPs and dispensing pharmacists by interview. The service was valued by the patients and endorsed by the GPs and all the community pharmacists involved, indicating that community pharmacists have a potential role to play in enhancing the care of specific housebound patients through domiciliary visits.