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Key facts

Key facts
●	Polypharmacy has now become the rule rather than the exception and can be appropriate or inappropriate
●	In the UK up to 18% of unplanned hospital admissions are attributable to medication-related adverse events
●	Higher proportions of adults with multiple morbidities live in the most deprived communities
●	Polypharmacy becomes inappropriate when the risks of multiple medications begin to outweigh their potential benefits for an individual patient
●	A ‘7-Steps’ approach to medication review has been developed with patient groups and doctors, and pharmacists in primary and secondary care
●	Working through the seven steps may result in reducing or stopping medication that is no longer needed
●	The role of community pharmacists here depends on effective communication between GP surgery and pharmacy
●	The World Health Organization aims to reduce severe avoidable harm from medicines by half over the next five years.

Managing inappropriate polypharmacy

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