Almost all of us take medicines. They have enormous potential to affect our health and well-being.  Ask About Medicines wants to help people control their own health and healthcare by encouraging better understanding of what medicines do and how to make the most appropriate use of them.

Ask About Medicines is based on a set of shared beliefs:

• effective communication between patients and their carers and professionals is the hallmark of successful medicine use
• everyone is entitled to be involved in decisions about whether a medicine is right for them, and to choose a different option if they prefer
• everyone should be able to get the medicines information they want and need, from whatever source they choose
• people need better ways of judging the quality of information about medicines
• no-one should be deterred from asking, and asking again, until they have the information they want about a medicine they need or are taking
• doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals should be supported, through training, to communicate effectively and help their patients and their carers be involved in decisions about medicines
• health care professionals who respect voluntary and appropriately informed decisions made by patients about their medicine-taking deserve to be supported