The NHS Medicines: Care & Review (MCR) (formerly known as the NHS Chronic Medication Scheme (CMS) service is for people who take multiple medications on a regular basis, for the treatment of a chronic condition or several conditions, such as diabetes, asthma or high blood pressure.
If you feel you could benefit from a review of your medication you will find the meeting with the Pharmacist relaxed, helpful and informative.
An NHS MCR is an ideal opportunity for both you and a pharmacist to discuss your overall medication needs in a friendly and informal way in a private consultation room within our pharmacy.
We will chat about:
- The medicines you are taking
- What they do
- How well they work for you
- How to get the most out of them
Medicines work in different ways:
- Some are taken before you eat to allow them to get into your system quickly.
- Some won’t work properly if they are taken with certain foods and herbal remedies or with other medicines.
- Some medicines must be taken with or after food because they may otherwise irritate your stomach.
- Some should not be crushed because they need to be released into your system slowly, and crushing them could allow them to get into your system too fast.
After a review we may find that certain medications are no longer required or that they should be taken at a different time of the day or perhaps in a different way.
To book an appointment for a free NHS MCR speak to our Pharmacist or contact us online or by phone.
Serial Prescribing
One of the benefits of the MCR service is that the medication can be prescibed on a serial prescription (SRx). This is a prescription that may be supplied to patients who have a long term condition(s) and will remain valid for up to 56 weeks. There are number of key differences between a SRx and a ‘normal’ GP10. The main ones are that the form is valid for 24, 48 or 56 weeks with the prescriber specifying the dispensing interval and total quantity on the form. This means that the turnaround time for your prescription is often the same day or the next day depending on stock.