Patient centred respiratory prescribing

Right Decisions
Respiratory : Quality prescribing strategy - a guide for improvement
Back
Polypharmacy
Patient centred respiratory prescribing

Please update your RDS mobile app to version 4.7.1

We are pleased to advise that deep linking capability, enabling users to directly download individual mobile toolkits, has now been released on the RDS mobile app. When you install the update, you will see that each toolkit has a small QR code icon the header area beside the search icon – see screenshot below. Clicking on this icon will open up a window with a full-size QR code and the alternative of a short URL for sharing with users. Instructions are provided.

You may need to actively install the update to install RDS app version 4.7.1 to see this improvement. Installing this update is also strongly recommended to get the full benefits of the new contingency arrangements – specifically, that if the RDS website should fail, you will still be able to download new mobile app toolkits.

To check your current RDS version, click on the three dots bottom right of the RDS app screen. This takes you to a “More” page where you will see the version number. To install latest updates:

On iPhones – go to the Apple store, click on your profile icon top right, scroll down to see the apps waiting to be updated and update the RDS app.

On Android phones – these can vary, but try going to the Google Play store, click on your profile icon top right, click on “Manage apps and device”, select and update the RDS app.

Please get in touch with ann.wales3@nhs.scot with any questions.

Medication is by far the most common form of medical intervention for many acute and chronic conditions with around 280,000 items prescribed every day in Scotland, with around 21,000 items for respiratory medicines.¹²

The term polypharmacy means “many medications” and is defined to be present when a patient takes two or more medications.

Pharmacological therapy can be highly effective in preventing disease or slowing disease progression, with guidelines for single diseases recommending the use of a variety of evidence-based medicines. However, there is often a mismatch between prescribing guidelines for specific medical conditions and the range of clinical complexity found in individuals. It is important to note that polypharmacy is not necessarily a bad thing, it can be both rational and required.