A/Prof Sarah Hilmer: Going to hospital – Going home from hospital
Listen to patients and health professionals speak about their experience with taking multiple medicines.
A/Prof Sarah Hilmer
Main occupation: Clinical pharmacologist
Years in clinical practice at interview: 16
Qualifications: BScMed (Hons), MBBS (Hons), FRACP, PhD
Associate Professor Sarah Hilmer, clinical pharmacologist and geriatrician, explains what people need to do with respect to their medicines once they go home from hospital, particularly if their medicines regimen has been altered.
Associate Professor Hilmer:
What they should do is go and see their general practitioner as soon as possible. The hospitals usually only provide a few days' worth of discharge medicines, and it can be very confusing to come home and have one handful of medicines from the hospital and your cupboard full of medicines from before and not quite know what you are supposed to be taking. So they should really take their discharge letter and make an appointment to see their doctor as soon as possible, and make sure that they and their doctor are clear on what they should be taking and how they should be taking it.
Jacqueline:
So, those medicines that they’re given when they leave hospital, they should continue taking them and not what they've got in the cupboard at home? Is that …?
Associate Professor Hilmer:
That's right. That's right, and it's really important not to double up. And people do sometimes run into trouble because they'll be given something in hospital that is a different brand name of the same thing they have at home. They may not appreciate that's the same drug and they'll go home and take both and wind up double dosing.
The Living with multiple medicines project was developed in
collaboration with Healthtalk Australia.