Research shows many Bay residents fail to fill prescriptions

Hastings pharmacist Delan Mahlagwai says the new service sounds good, but it's also important to have time to talk to people about the need for their medication. Photo / Paul Taylor

Four in 10 Hawke's Bay residents surveyed failed to fill their doctor's prescriptions, a new study has revealed.

The recent Zoom Health survey has also revealed the patients were neglecting to take medication as prescribed.

The study of more than 1300 patients nationwide, including 64 from Hawke's Bay, found that four in 10 Hawke's Bay residents had a doctor's prescription they had not filled, and that 12 per cent of local respondents cited lack of time as the reason they had not picked up their scripts.

Cost was also a major factor for 14 per cent of respondents and 17 per cent felt apprehensive about the potential side effects from medication.

Another 38 per cent said they felt their condition had changed and they decided not to pick up their prescription.

The study also showed 63 per cent of the Hawke's Bay residents surveyed admitted to having forgotten to take a prescription medicine at some stage.

Zoom Health medical director Dr Daniel Wu said adding to the problem was the fact that doctors had no idea whether people had picked up their prescriptions.

In addition, a downgrading of postal services had led to issues with mail going missing or not arriving in time, he said.

"This has meant some patients with chronic conditions quite often don't have enough medication for their diabetes or their blood pressure."

In response, a new service had been launched that could send the patient's mobile number and prescription to Zoom Health who would then contact the patient to download an app.

This would allow the patient to pay for the medication and delivery as well as providing medicine information and reminders, as well as helping with co-ordinating repeat prescriptions.

It was hoped the new service would reduce the administrative load on general practices around repeat prescriptions and improve the information flow between the patient, the health service provider and the pharmacist.

Hastings pharmacist Delan Mahlagwai from Hastings UFS Dispensary said he thought the initiative was a good idea.

As a pharmacist he said cost was a big factor in people not picking up their prescriptions, even though government funding helped decrease the expense.

"It can also be a case of people not understanding what their medications are for - sometimes if you tell someone they have to take something for their heart they are more likely to take it than if you had told them it was for their blood pressure.

"This can be really challenging especially with the time pressures on the medical profession."

For people with chronic conditions especially he could see a lot of value in the service, but at the same time the one-on-one contact with a pharmacist also had benefits.