Medicine Profile information now available for patients

The NHS website (NHS.UK) has in collaboration with UK Medicines Information published a series of medicine profiles aimed at patients and members of the public. The profiles can be found at: nhs.uk/medicines. Community pharmacy teams may wish to make patients aware of this resource to reinforce important information about their medicines.

Each profile broadly covers the following points for each medicine:

  1. About the medicine;
  2. Key facts;
  3. Who can and can’t take the medicine;
  4. How and when to take it;
  5. Side effects;
  6. How to cope with side effects;
  7. Pregnancy and breastfeeding;
  8. Cautions with other medicines; and
  9. Common questions.

The profiles also highlight important counselling points, such as safety information, that are specific to the medicine in question, where appropriate.

Profiles to cover more medicines are currently in development and will continue to be added to nhs.uk/medicines.