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Polypharmacy patient group – call for participants

  • Area of Work: The ALLIANCE
  • Type: News Item
  • Published: 28th June 2022
medicines on shelf

The Scottish Government is looking for people with lived experience of taking multiple medicines to join their patient group

Scottish Government is currently refreshing its Polypharmacy Quality Prescribing Guide, and is looking for people with lived experience to join their patient group and share their views. Polypharmacy is the word we used to describe when someone is taking two or more medicines at a time.

Scottish Government develops guidance in collaboration with experts, and values the contribution that Experts by Experience provide. This helps to ensure that the guidance meets the needs of all the people who will use it. As Experts by Experience, we would like you to share your views and lived experience on the development of the new polypharmacy guide used by clinicians, and to help us develop a user-friendly guide for patients and carers. We want to make sure that the patient guide covers everything that is important to you in your own care, in a way that is easy to access and understand. This will ensure that patients can make an informed choice about their medication and how it is managed.

The ALLIANCE is working with the Scottish Government on the development of the revised Quality Prescribing Guide and Irene Oldfather, our Director of Strategy and Engagement, is chairing the Patient Group. Being part of this group offers an opportunity to be involved in developing the guidance, and the online shared decision making tools that are available from the Polypharmacy: Manage Medicines website (this link will take you away from our website) and the app.

The group will also be key to developing and shaping a patient friendly version of the guidance, looking at:

  • the type of information included
  • the level of detail
  • the language used
  • how the information is presented
  • the focus on shared, supported decision making.

The group will meet virtually, five times, over the next nine months. The deadline for applying to the patient group is Friday 22 July 2022.

If you would like to be part of this group or discuss membership further, please contact Nadia Hyder by email at: nadia.hyder@gov.scot

Nadia Hyder is a Senior Policy Officer in the Effective Prescribing & Therapeutics Division at Scottish Government, and Secretariat for the Polypharmacy Patient Group.

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