Pharmacies: Medicines at Home Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateBaroness McIntosh of Hudnall
Main Page: Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(1 year, 3 months ago)
Lords ChamberI am sorry: I will try to be clear to make sure that I am fully understood. There are many, many people for whom a blister pack is absolutely the right solution. Basically, what has been put in place here is a structured medicine review, so that, in each case, it will be the responsibility of the pharmacist to make sure that they have the right solution for the patient. What I am saying equally is that blister packs are not a blanket solution, and it needs to be done on a case-by-case basis.
My Lords, I cannot claim any expertise in this matter; I have just been listening to the conversation that has been going on. My noble friend’s original Question referred to the burden on carers. I have not heard the Minister say much about that, particularly when the negotiation over what is the right way of dispensing certain kinds of medicine presumably has to go on between a patient, a pharmacist and, presumably, a doctor somewhere in it, or somebody representing the patient who would, in many cases, be the carer. In what way are carers being helped to engage in that negotiation, with all the knowledge and expertise that they bring about what actually works in the circumstances?