16 December 2021

A new GP Clinical Pharmacy Service is now up and running in GP practices across the Borders, giving people easier access to the GP Clinical Pharmacy team who are experts in medications.

The service, which is part of our local Primary Care Improvement Plan (PCIP), manages prescribing in Practices including acute and repeat prescriptions, hospital discharge letters, clinic letters and carrying out medication reviews.

This modern, streamlined service enables the GP pharmacy team to access your digital medical records making it more straightforward for those providing your care to issue prescriptions. It may take up to seven working days for your prescription to be filled so please ensure that you request prescriptions in a timely manner.

Alison Wilson, Director of Pharmacy at NHS Borders, said: “Medication is just one of the medical fields which is constantly being developed and improved. Part of the GP Clinical Pharmacy team’s role is to check that the medicines you currently take are still safe and appropriate for you. The team can also help you understand the medicines that you need to take and how to get the best from them. For example, they may offer you medicine in a liquid or capsule form instead of traditional tablets if you have trouble swallowing.

“Pharmacists can also prescribe medicines, offer medicine reviews or request blood tests if they think this is needed. Our teams may offer you a consultation over the phone, by video call or, if appropriate, in person. If you are being seen face to face this could be in your GP Practice, at home or in a care home.

“Speaking to a Pharmacist about your medications lets you benefit from their specialist knowledge; while also giving GPs the ability to offer their expert medical generalist skills to the patients who need this most. This helps the whole community to access the right care, in the right place as quickly as possible.”

Further information - pharmacy teams in your GP Practice can help you:

  • Understand the medicines that you need to take and how to get the best from them
  • Check test results to ensure your medicines are still safe and appropriate
  • Liaise with other healthcare partners to enhance your care
  • Deal with medicine and prescription queries that you have and review your medicines when:
    • You leave hospital, after an out-patient appointment or following a change to your medicines to help with a long-term condition such as pain when you need to take many medicines
    • You join the practice as a new patient
    • Live in a care home
    • Your annual review is due