Most importantly, effective medicines optimisation needs a patient-centred approach and there are four main principles to follow:

Principle 1: Aim to understand the patient’s experience

Take a non-judgemental approach and ask the person about their experiences of taking medicines and if there is anything that would make taking their medicines easier. Ask if they can swallow tablets and capsules and if they can use other formulations. Consider how they might cope with a change of formulation that either looks or tastes different.

Medicines need to fit into the person’s lifestyle and it’s important to consider their routines. For young people, in particular, there may be a number of different people administering medicines such as parents, carers and teachers. Not all schools or professional carers can give medicines and therefore you may need to consider working with the family, carers and GP to make medicines fit into the person’s day. In particular you might need to balance the optimum timings of doses with what is possible and practical in educational and other settings.

Often, when schools do give medicines they will require pharmacy labels on products, as well as on the box; this is particularly relevant with inhalers and creams. Any over-the-counter medicines might also require a pharmacy label. The person might find it helpful to have separate supplies of medicine for use at school and at home. Therefore you could ask if it would be helpful to supply a prescription in two containers to allow for this.

Supporting independence will be a particular focus when working with young people. Some people with a learning disability may live independently or in supported carer environments and manage their own medicines. These individuals might find a medicines use review (MUR) or the new medicine service (NMS) beneficial as these services provide an ideal opportunity to engage people who have a learning disability in discussions about getting the best outcomes from their medicines.

A My Medication Passport is a useful way to record key information about the person’s medicines, other health information and any extra details such as their likes and dislikes.