A care pathway is the route from a patient's first contact with the NHS to the completion of their treatment. The most relevant pathways to older people include the long-term condition pathway, falls integrated care pathway and the urgent care pathway for older people with complex needs.

Clinical pharmacy services have not routinely been part of mainstream NHS care or been integrated within many care pathways. They are therefore not joined up with routine care and are often added as an afterthought. This is beginning to change following the publication of the Five year forward view and Transforming primary care 2014 reports, which outline plans to increase the role of community pharmacy and ensure that pharmacists are an integral part of multidisciplinary teams.

Pharmacies can offer a range of services to help improve clinical cost-effectiveness, promote adherence, reduce adverse drug reactions, minimise hospital admissions and help older people use their medicines safely, effectively and independently in the community. Relevant pharmacy services include medicines use reviews, the new medicine service, repeat dispensing, screening, point of care testing, monitoring, clinical medication reviews and assessments.

Why not complete the fourth and final module in this series?

Part four: Optimising medicines for older people