An audit of prescription interventions by community pharmacy teams, carried out by Pharmacy Voice, has highlighted that medicines supply and availability issues cause one in five such instances, making it
the most common reason
for intervention.

The audit revealed that unsigned prescriptions (18 per cent) were the second most common cause of intervention from the pharmacy team. Other common interventions occurred because of queries around the medicine form (8 per cent), quantity (7 per cent) and brand (7 per cent).

Rob Darracott, chief executive of Pharmacy Voice, said: “Audits such as this highlight the positive impact community pharmacy teams have on patient care. However the management of these interventions necessitates more time spent and considerable pressure for all members of the primary care team. This means it is essential that steps are taken to reduce the need for interventions."

The full Pharmacy Voice practice-based audit report can be found here.