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Who is eligible to receive HMR?
* Patients living at home for who may be at risk of medication-related problems
* Available once in 12 months; or if there have been significant changes in their condition or regimen
Which pharmacy can I refer to?
The patient must choose a pharmacy or check the list (below) of pharmacies to show the patient.
Why is an HMR recommended?
HMR provides the means by which a GP can view a "patient-medication relationship" in a context outside that patient's visit to the surgery.
As with all relationships, many factors can have an effect. With patients and their medication, the range of issues may be easily identified such as:
- Polypharmacy
- Sub-therapeutic response
- Major health crisis or recent hospitalisation
However, there are also issues that may not be considered such as:
- Forgetfulness
- Unwillingness to tell the GP everything
- Lifestyle and psycho-social factors
- Something doesn't seem right, but you can't put your finger on it
- Confusion between generic and different trade names of medication
Real life examples:
* A patient may often forget to take their morning dose of oral hypoglycaemic medication and so took double the dose at night, but they were too embarrassed to tell their GP in case the GP became angry!
* A patient did not store their insulin in the fridge until after they'd opened it.
* A hypertensive patient always told their doctor they took their medication but never actually did because they were afraid of a particular side-effect.
* Many patients take OTC medication; does the GP always know?
* The reality is that HMR can uncover issues that may not be obvious. A key feature is that the pharmacist has an opportunity to discuss with the patient all aspects of the patient's medication regimen.
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HMR DMMR - Home Medicines Review
