The Evelina Children’s Hospital (Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust) & NHS Direct have worked together to pilot pharmacist-led Medicines Information Prescriptions for Parents and Carers of Children focusing on common childhood long term conditions. Helped by a pharmacist, parents and carers complete an information request form which is uploaded to a web-portal. The request is accessed by an NHS Direct heath advisor, who send the required information by post or email within 2 working days. This unique pilot was the only model of information prescriptions which particularly focussed on information about medicines and was led by pharmacy staff. The pilot has helped NHS Direct to develop a system that could be used on a national basis, in line with the Department of Health’s goal of starting to make accredited Information Prescriptions available to patients from late 2008. This was one of 20 pilots funded by the DH to help inform how information prescriptions should be implemented locally and identify the national resources needed to support local organisations introduce information prescriptions. The project was designed to complement the Pharmacy White Paper published in 2008.

 

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Every year almost 4,000 women in Scotland are diagnosed with breast cancer. To help Scottish women access up to date information on what they can expect from local breast cancer services, Breakthrough Breast Cancer produced ‘The Best Treatment: Your guide to breast cancer treatment in Scotland’. The guide brings together research, recommendations from professional guidelines and the direct experience of women with breast cancer. This guide takes into account the healthcare system in Scotland, so that Scottish patients can have informed discussions with the multi-disciplinary team responsible for their care and play a full part in decision making about the treatment that is right for them.