July 3, 2013
Do you take five or more medicines a day? Do you know how these medicines interact with each? Does your doctor know? This was the wake-up message that came from a meeting of mental health professionals held in Kingaroy last week.
Home Medicine Review Pharmacist Corby Cunnington was invited to address a meeting of the Mental Health Professionals Network at the Kingaroy RSL Club.
She provided an overview of the various side-effects and interactions of the common medicines they were likely to encounter among their mental health clients.
The gathered assembly of mental health clinicians and allied health workers also heard some horror tales of when “things went wrong”, including episodes of gastric bleeding which required medevacs, and a frightening case of serotonin toxicity when the wrong painkiller was administered to a patient taking an anti-depressant.
Fortunately, these incidents are rare, and sometimes they’re caused by patients “doctor shopping”, ie. collecting different scripts from different GPs.
Ms Cunnington said that less rare, unfortunately, was the over-prescription of benzodiazepines (which should only be given for “short term use”), and other drugs that could make elderly patients more prone to falls.
She had a message for the clients of the mental health workers, too. If you are taking five medicines, you can request a once-a-year “home medicines review” when you next see your GP.
A review can also be organised if a medical professional suspects there is non-compliance with prescription instructions.
A Home Medicines Review (HMR) Pharmacist will visit the patient, assess the various drugs they are taking and then work with the doctor and patient to achieve the best outcome.
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Mental Health Nurse Mark Duffy organised the first meeting of a local Mental Health Professionals Network (MHPN) group in Murgon in July 2009. Three months later, another group was formed in Kingaroy.
These two groups soon merged and now meet on irregular occasions in Kingaroy throughout the year.
The MHPN is an Australia-wide interdisciplinary organisation which aims to encourage a collaborative care approach to mental health treatment.
Members include GPs, psychologists, counsellors, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, psychiatrists. in fact anyone working with people with mental health issues.
An important off-shoot of the local South Burnett group is the Suicide Prevention Group which meets monthly in Kingaroy.
For more information about the local MHPN group, contact Mr Duffy by email