The new medicine service (NMS) focuses on patients with long term conditions that have been prescribed new medicines. It is hoped that NMS will also lead to the following outcomes:

• improve medicines adherence
• increase patient engagement with their condition and medicines, which will support them in making decisions about their treatment and self management
• reduce medicines wastage
• reduce hospital admissions due to adverse events associated with medicines
• increase reporting of medicine adverse reactions by pharmacists and patients
• positive patient assessments
• provide evidence base on the effectiveness of the service
• enable the development of outcome and/or quality measures for community pharmacy

This builds on the current range of advanced pharmacy services available to patients. As an advanced service community pharmacies will need to fulfil certain criteria in order to be able to offer the service, however pharmacies can choose whether or not to provide the service. A one-off payment for implementation of the service will be provided to those offering the service, as well as target payments that are based on the quantity of consultations completed.

NMS will primarily focus on five clinical conditions: asthma; COPD, type 2 diabetes, antiplatelet/anticoagulant therapy, and hypertension. Patients can be offered the service when they present with a prescription for a new medicine in pharmacies, or may be referred to the service by prescribers.

New video for pharmacists on New Medicine Service

Paul Johnson talks you through the process and explains how it will all work.

Watch the video now »