Overview

When you're ready to leave the hospital, you can choose to take part in our discharge medicines service. This service puts you in touch with your community pharmacist. You can then talk about your medicines with them.

Your community pharmacist looks at all the medicines that you take. You can talk to them about:

• any new medicines that we gave you in hospital
• any changes that we made to your medicines during your hospital stay
• all of your medicines and how best to take them

The community pharmacist explains what each medicine is for, any common side effects and how to take it safely.

You can ask the community pharmacist any questions about your medicines and get all the information that you need.

How this service can help you

About half of all medicines are not taken as they are prescribed. Common errors include:

• taking the wrong dose (amount)
• taking the medicine at the wrong time
• not taking the medicine at all

If you do not take your medicines as prescribed, your condition is not treated correctly and could even get worse. By understanding your medicines and the best way to take them, you can make sure that they help you as much as possible.

Your community pharmacist supports you to feel confident about managing your medicines at home. This is a free service and your community pharmacist works closely with your GP.

Signing up for the service

The pharmacy team helps you to sign up for the discharge medicines service.

1. You can choose which pharmacy is best for you.
2. When you have given your consent, we send a copy of your discharge summary to your chosen pharmacy. This is a report that your doctor prepares at the end of your hospital stay. It has information about the medicines that you take.
3. When you are at home, the community pharmacist contacts you. They arrange a time for you to talk about your medicines with them.

If you would like to use the service or find out more, please speak to your hospital pharmacy team.

Sharing your information

If you sign up for the discharge medicines service, we need to share your information with your community pharmacist. They can then support you with your medicines.

To find out more about your confidentiality and privacy rights, please call the information governance team on 020 7188 7525 or email: [email protected]

Useful information

You can also find more information about your medicines, possible side effects and answers to common questions on the NHS website.

If you have an urgent medical problem and are not sure what to do, go to 111.nhs.uk or call 111.