Templepatrick Policy for Prescribing over the counter medications.
- Promotes self-care for minor conditions and self-limiting illnesses
- Advises patients that medicines on the list below should be purchased by the patient from community pharmacies or supermarkets and will no longer be prescribed for minor or self-limiting conditions
- Advises patients that their local community pharmacy pharmacist can provide advice and help to manage minor conditions and self-limiting illnesses
In line with the NI Department of Health and from the 1st May 2017 this practice will not prescribe medicines that can be purchased over-the-counter by patients when they are being used to treat minor conditions or self-limiting illnesses, or where there is no evidence base for their use.
This new policy will:
- Encourage self-management of minor illnesses and free up GP appointments to treat patients with complex health problems
- Increase the money available to the health service to treat more serious conditions such as heart disease and cancer
- Increase patients’ confidence and feeling of positivity in being able to look after their health
Take a look at the table on this leaflet: