For 12 months, a small team of Health Board pharmacists and pharmacy technicians provided intensive support to a the highest prescribing, most expensive (per head of population) GP practice in the Health Board to actively pursue deprescribing and quality improvement opportunities.
Due to the project, an additional 2058 patients had a medication review compared with the previous year. Gabapentin prescribing reduced by 18.7%. There was a 52% reduction of patients on salbutamol monotherapy and a 10% increase in DPI prescribing as a proportion of total inhalers.
We saved a projected £40,000 on inappropriate prescribing of oral nutritional supplements. The team submitted 12 yellow cards, 7 associated with gabapentinoid reviews. We also discovered areas of under treatment: 78 new pre-diabetic patients were identified and provided with lifestyle advice. An additional 122 patients were initiated on atorvastatin for primary prevention during the project compared with the previous year.
