New dedicated Mental Health
Pharmacy Service
Brock Dale, who is a specialist Mental Health
pharmacist, began leading this service last
month.
• Medication Optimisation
for Mental Health
patients.
• Dedicated Mental Health
Pharmacist specialist
medicines information.
• Patient medication education and support.
• Medication reconciliation and discharge planning/support.
• Attendance and input into MDT.
• Attached to the role is a support team of rotational pharmacists
and pharmacy technicians. This new service will initially focus on
Inpatient wards at Tauranga and Whakatāne and MHSOP. Resource for consultant psychiatrists, junior doctors, nursing,
allied health, community crisis team, and consult liaison.
• Up-to-date support with mental health guidelines development.
• And lots more as the service evolves.
Whilst this is new for BOPDHB, many other DHBs around the
country have had the opportunity and benefits of a pharmacy
service above the traditional supply role (currently provided) which
include: We look forward to working with the team with this exciting
opportunity and value feedback and input from all about how best
we can utilise this resource.
Brock’s background includes spending the last three years
specialising in Mental Health which included post graduate
study in this specialty. He is continuing further studies through
Otago University, amongst many other roles. Brock is passionate
about improving health outcomes for patients with Mental Health
conditions, mentoring and education of other health professionals.
He has pioneered extending pharmacist’s roles in Mental Health;
some of which includes National award winning work.
New clinic brings better support for
people taking multiple meds
Older people taking multiple medications
for multiple health conditions can talk to a
pharmacist and if needed be assessed by
a Geriatrician at a new Outpatient Clinic at
Tauranga Hospital.
For many older people, polypharmacy (taking multiple medications
for multiple conditions) is common. In New Zealand 35% of people
aged 65+ are prescribed five or more medications, and 8% of
those aged 85+ are taking 11 or more medications at one time.
“Taking multiple medications may be beneficial for quality of life
and staying well, as long as it is carefully managed. Research
shows 58% of people on five or more medications will suffer an
adverse side effect. There’s also a higher risk of falls and other
age related conditions that can lead to hospitalisation.
“Our new Outpatient Clinic allows people to bring along family
or friends and spend up to an hour with a pharmacist discussing
all their medications, prescribed and non-prescribed, their
benefits, potential side effects and possible changes. At the same
time, they can be seen by a Geriatrician who may add to the
recommendations, arrange appropriate investigations or further
review,” says BOPDHB Geriatrician Dr Vicky Henstridge.
The Bay of Plenty has a high and growing population of older
adults. In the Western Bay people can access specialist
pharmacist advice and support about their medications through
Medwise.
“The Outpatient clinic’s designed to complement those existing
services. People do have their medications reviewed by their GP,
often in collaboration with the excellent Medwise service. However,
as our population ages, the need for reviews is increasing, and so
too is the need for input from a Geriatrician.”
Geriatrician Dr Vicky Henstridge (left) and Pharmacist Adele Harrex at the new
Outpatient Clinic providing better support for people taking multiple medications
for multiple health conditions.
Although the clinic is in early phase and processes are still being
fine-tuned, Vicky says ultimately the clinic’s been set up to support
older people to stay well and improve their quality of life.
She says the BOPDHB will be monitoring the clinic’s progress and
depending on its success, we may look at developing a similar
clinic at the Outpatients Department at Whakatāne Hospital.
For further information including referral criteria please contact
[email protected]
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