The current Medicines Use Review (MUR) service has been refined; the new targeted MUR service requires community pharmacists to provide a proportion (50%) of MURs to patients within select groups, thus ensuring that the service is provided to those who will gain most from it.

MURs can still be conducted with patients who would benefit from a review but do not meet the targeted MUR criteria and are taking other medicines, and existing MUR guidelines and recommended procedures would still apply.

The target groups are:

• Patients taking any of the following high risk medicines:
  • NSAIDs
  • Anticoagulants (including low molecular weight heparin)
  • Antiplatelets
  • Diuretics
• Patients recently discharged from hospital who have had a change in medicines during their hospital stay
• Patients with respiratory disease taking the following medicines for asthma or COPD:
  • Adrenoreceptor agonists
  • Antimuscarinic bronchodilators
  • Theophylline
  • Compound bronchodilator preparations
  • Corticosteroids
  • Cromoglicate and related therapy, leukotriene receptor antagonists and phosphodiesterase type-4 inhibitors