What actually happens during a Home Medicines Review

Before the visit: the referral

Every Home Medicines Review starts with a referral from the person’s GP — that’s how the program is designed, and it’s a strength: their doctor knows their history, and everything I find goes back to that doctor.

Getting the referral organised is the part families find hardest, so I do it. Once you get in touch and your family member is happy to go ahead, I liaise with their GP practice directly — practices handle these referrals all the time, and I supply everything they need. If you’d rather raise it yourself at their next appointment, that works too: just ask the GP whether a Home Medicines Review would be worth doing.

After the referral arrives, I phone your family member, introduce myself, explain what the visit involves, and book a time that suits them. If they’re more comfortable in Urdu or Hindi, that first call happens in their language too.

The visit: 45–60 minutes at their kitchen table

The review happens where the medicines live. I sit down with your family member — and with you, if they’d like company — and we go through everything, at their pace:

• Every medicine, one by one — prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, herbal products, the old boxes in the drawer. What each one is for, how it’s actually being taken, and how it’s sitting with them.
• The practical stuff — opening bottles, splitting tablets, inhaler and eye-drop technique, the Webster pack routine, what happens when a dose is missed.
• How they’re feeling — dizziness, drowsiness, appetite, sleep, memory — anything that might be medicine-related and worth their doctor’s attention.
• Their questions — often the most valuable part. Many people have been quietly wondering about a tablet for years and never had the time to ask.

It’s a conversation, not an inspection. Nothing is confiscated, nothing is changed on the spot, and your family member stays in charge throughout — the visit happens with their signed consent, and they can skip anything they’d rather not discuss.

After the visit: the report and the plan

Within three business days I send their GP a concise, prioritised report: what I found, which medication-related problems matter most, and specific recommendations for each. The GP then discusses the findings with your family member and decides — together with them — whether anything should change. That follow-up conversation is part of the program (it’s how the GP completes the medication management plan).

Two things worth knowing: recommendations are advice to the doctor, not instructions — the GP’s clinical judgment decides. And no medicine should ever be stopped or changed off the back of the visit itself; everything runs through their doctor.

What to have ready

Nothing is required, but the review goes deeper when these are in the room:

• All current medicines — including the Webster pack, inhalers, patches, drops, injections, and anything kept in the fridge or handbag
• Over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and herbal products
• The most recent hospital discharge summary, if there’s been a recent stay
• Any old or stopped medicines still in the cupboard — these often tell the most interesting story

How long until it all happens?

The program allows up to 90 days between referral and interview; my working aim is within two weeks. From first phone call to report-in-GP’s-hands is typically under three weeks, and I keep both the practice and your family posted at every step.