Heather Smith
@heathersmith.pharmsky.app
Consultant Pharmacist Older People Leeds and West Yorkshire ICB. Overprescribing lead for West Yorkshire. Optimising and researching medicines for older people. Own views.
Reposted by Heather Smith
💡 Large retrospective study finds approximately 1 in 20 nursing home residents who start #gabapentinoids go on to receive a loop diuretic within 3 months.
The study highlights the prevalence of an often overlooked prescribing cascade!
Read the full article here:
buff.ly/5u5O3qh
The study highlights the prevalence of an often overlooked prescribing cascade!
Read the full article here:
buff.ly/5u5O3qh
December 2, 2025 at 5:02 PM
💡 Large retrospective study finds approximately 1 in 20 nursing home residents who start #gabapentinoids go on to receive a loop diuretic within 3 months.
The study highlights the prevalence of an often overlooked prescribing cascade!
Read the full article here:
buff.ly/5u5O3qh
The study highlights the prevalence of an often overlooked prescribing cascade!
Read the full article here:
buff.ly/5u5O3qh
Reposted by Heather Smith
“Cutting medicines optimisation capacity is not a saving; it is a false economy that jeopardises patient outcomes and the resilience of the NHS,” says Tase Oputu, RPS England Board Chair, in response to Government approved cuts to headcounts in ICBs and NHS England: https://bit.ly/4nVXEjM
November 12, 2025 at 3:45 PM
“Cutting medicines optimisation capacity is not a saving; it is a false economy that jeopardises patient outcomes and the resilience of the NHS,” says Tase Oputu, RPS England Board Chair, in response to Government approved cuts to headcounts in ICBs and NHS England: https://bit.ly/4nVXEjM
Reposted by Heather Smith
💊 5 Tips to Manage Polypharmacy:
A toolkit co-developed by Canada’s Drug Agency, @ismpcanada.bsky.social & @deprescribing.bsky.social to help primary care providers identify and address polypharmacy with their patients.
Download the toolkit here:
www.cda-amc.ca/appropriate-...
A toolkit co-developed by Canada’s Drug Agency, @ismpcanada.bsky.social & @deprescribing.bsky.social to help primary care providers identify and address polypharmacy with their patients.
Download the toolkit here:
www.cda-amc.ca/appropriate-...
November 12, 2025 at 2:54 PM
💊 5 Tips to Manage Polypharmacy:
A toolkit co-developed by Canada’s Drug Agency, @ismpcanada.bsky.social & @deprescribing.bsky.social to help primary care providers identify and address polypharmacy with their patients.
Download the toolkit here:
www.cda-amc.ca/appropriate-...
A toolkit co-developed by Canada’s Drug Agency, @ismpcanada.bsky.social & @deprescribing.bsky.social to help primary care providers identify and address polypharmacy with their patients.
Download the toolkit here:
www.cda-amc.ca/appropriate-...
Reposted by Heather Smith
Drum roll!! This is a very special document and will CHANGE PRACTICE www.bgs.org.uk/PragmaticPre...
www.bgs.org.uk
November 12, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Drum roll!! This is a very special document and will CHANGE PRACTICE www.bgs.org.uk/PragmaticPre...
Reposted by Heather Smith
📃 Today, we release our 2025 State of Health and Social Care Report.
While more of us are living longer, on many other measures, we have gone backwards.
To read our 5 key takeaways, and to download the full report, visit the Age UK website: https://bit.ly/4gHDMih
While more of us are living longer, on many other measures, we have gone backwards.
To read our 5 key takeaways, and to download the full report, visit the Age UK website: https://bit.ly/4gHDMih
September 26, 2025 at 1:53 PM
📃 Today, we release our 2025 State of Health and Social Care Report.
While more of us are living longer, on many other measures, we have gone backwards.
To read our 5 key takeaways, and to download the full report, visit the Age UK website: https://bit.ly/4gHDMih
While more of us are living longer, on many other measures, we have gone backwards.
To read our 5 key takeaways, and to download the full report, visit the Age UK website: https://bit.ly/4gHDMih
Reposted by Heather Smith
Credit for these are down to the team - Dr Daisy Halligan, Hana Shamsan, Dr Alison Bravington, Prof Liz Breen, and Dr Hannah Hartley - in partnership with the residents, relatives, care home staff and healthcare professionals who co-designed them
Fantastic resources produced by @davidalldred.bsky.social and team.
You can find out more about the project and download the resources here:
yqsr.org/2025/09/11/m...
#medsky #safetysky #polypharmacy #pharma #healthcare #medication #pharmacy
@rebeccalawton.bsky.social @albravington.bsky.social
You can find out more about the project and download the resources here:
yqsr.org/2025/09/11/m...
#medsky #safetysky #polypharmacy #pharma #healthcare #medication #pharmacy
@rebeccalawton.bsky.social @albravington.bsky.social
September 12, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Credit for these are down to the team - Dr Daisy Halligan, Hana Shamsan, Dr Alison Bravington, Prof Liz Breen, and Dr Hannah Hartley - in partnership with the residents, relatives, care home staff and healthcare professionals who co-designed them
Reposted by Heather Smith
People with dementia (PWD) are often overprescribed meds to manage comorbidities, behavioural symptoms & cognitive impairment. But deprescribing in PWD has unique challenges.
Find a roadmap for deprescribing in PWD and communication strategies to support the process here: tinyurl.com/yc6kxx69
Find a roadmap for deprescribing in PWD and communication strategies to support the process here: tinyurl.com/yc6kxx69
Deprescribing for People with Dementia: A Roadmap - Drugs & Aging
People with dementia (PWD) are frequently exposed to polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medication use, in which the risks of medication use outweigh the benefits or the medication is not alig...
tinyurl.com
September 3, 2025 at 1:32 PM
People with dementia (PWD) are often overprescribed meds to manage comorbidities, behavioural symptoms & cognitive impairment. But deprescribing in PWD has unique challenges.
Find a roadmap for deprescribing in PWD and communication strategies to support the process here: tinyurl.com/yc6kxx69
Find a roadmap for deprescribing in PWD and communication strategies to support the process here: tinyurl.com/yc6kxx69
Reposted by Heather Smith
Each year, £50 million of medicines are wasted in the care home pathway in England. Join us to learn some surprising insights and practical actions to address this.
Book: https://q.health.org.uk/get-involved/events/medicines-waste-in-the-care-home-pathway-environmental-and-social-impacts
Book: https://q.health.org.uk/get-involved/events/medicines-waste-in-the-care-home-pathway-environmental-and-social-impacts
July 21, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Each year, £50 million of medicines are wasted in the care home pathway in England. Join us to learn some surprising insights and practical actions to address this.
Book: https://q.health.org.uk/get-involved/events/medicines-waste-in-the-care-home-pathway-environmental-and-social-impacts
Book: https://q.health.org.uk/get-involved/events/medicines-waste-in-the-care-home-pathway-environmental-and-social-impacts
Reposted by Heather Smith
🎉 Congrats to PhD student Lauren Lawson, who published in BMC Geriatrics! 📚 Her review, "Do hospital-to-home transitions work for older adults with multiple long-term conditions including dementia?" Great achievement!
bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
@medicalsciencesncl.bsky.social
bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
@medicalsciencesncl.bsky.social
Do hospital-to-home transitions work for older adults with multiple long-term conditions including dementia? A realist review - BMC Geriatrics
Background Hospital-to-home transitions involve multiple providers and are particularly complex for older adults with dementia, who often live with additional conditions. Frequent transitions increase...
bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com
July 11, 2025 at 2:12 PM
🎉 Congrats to PhD student Lauren Lawson, who published in BMC Geriatrics! 📚 Her review, "Do hospital-to-home transitions work for older adults with multiple long-term conditions including dementia?" Great achievement!
bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
@medicalsciencesncl.bsky.social
bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
@medicalsciencesncl.bsky.social
Help us ⬇️ £18million wasted on unused meds. Check what you have before ordering, check meds before leaving pharmacy and have ordering routine. More details ⬇️ @wypartnership.bsky.social www.wypartnership.co.uk/campaigns/or...
Only order what you need - campaign resources :: West Yorkshire Health & Care Partnership
www.wypartnership.co.uk
July 7, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Help us ⬇️ £18million wasted on unused meds. Check what you have before ordering, check meds before leaving pharmacy and have ordering routine. More details ⬇️ @wypartnership.bsky.social www.wypartnership.co.uk/campaigns/or...
Reposted by Heather Smith
Study from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy finds a pharmacist educational intervention involving educational materials (videos and website resources) coupled with detailed deprescribing recommendations was shown to be effective in improving PCP's confidence in deprescribing:
buff.ly/iVWwLOy
buff.ly/iVWwLOy
July 4, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Study from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy finds a pharmacist educational intervention involving educational materials (videos and website resources) coupled with detailed deprescribing recommendations was shown to be effective in improving PCP's confidence in deprescribing:
buff.ly/iVWwLOy
buff.ly/iVWwLOy
Reposted by Heather Smith
Starmer outlines 10-year plan to change NHS ‘from sickness service to health service’
Starmer outlines 10-year plan to change NHS ‘from sickness service to health service’
PM says work in England will focus on prevention, with early diagnosis, community hubs and lifestyle measures
*
UK politics live – latest updates
Keir Starmer has outlined a 10-year plan for the NHS based on a shift from hospitals to community health hubs, a renewed focus on prevention and an embrace of technology, which was billed as perhaps the last chance to save the health service in its current form.
Speaking at a health centre in Stratford, east London, alongside Wes Streeting, the health secretary, and Rachel Reeves, the chancellor – who had not been expected to appear – Starmer insisted this would be different to the long list of previous NHS revamps that achieved little. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
July 3, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Starmer outlines 10-year plan to change NHS ‘from sickness service to health service’
Reposted by Heather Smith
🥳 A HUGE happy birthday to the NHS from us and patients across the country! 🎂
To every healthcare worker showing up day in, day out, thank you for all you do for patients. ❤️ #NHSbirthday
To every healthcare worker showing up day in, day out, thank you for all you do for patients. ❤️ #NHSbirthday
July 5, 2025 at 5:59 AM
🥳 A HUGE happy birthday to the NHS from us and patients across the country! 🎂
To every healthcare worker showing up day in, day out, thank you for all you do for patients. ❤️ #NHSbirthday
To every healthcare worker showing up day in, day out, thank you for all you do for patients. ❤️ #NHSbirthday
Reposted by Heather Smith
The @HealthInnovNet has published a new report sharing insights on improving access to Structured Medication Reviews for patients in seldom-heard communities, particularly people living in areas of high deprivation & from ethnic minority groups: thehealthinnovationnetwork.co.uk/news/new-ins...
June 23, 2025 at 9:03 AM
The @HealthInnovNet has published a new report sharing insights on improving access to Structured Medication Reviews for patients in seldom-heard communities, particularly people living in areas of high deprivation & from ethnic minority groups: thehealthinnovationnetwork.co.uk/news/new-ins...
Reposted by Heather Smith
Free Frailty eLearning. Free to all health and social care staff from @gerisoc.bsky.social
www.bgs.org.uk/elearning/fr...
www.bgs.org.uk/elearning/fr...
June 4, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Free Frailty eLearning. Free to all health and social care staff from @gerisoc.bsky.social
www.bgs.org.uk/elearning/fr...
www.bgs.org.uk/elearning/fr...
Reposted by Heather Smith
New analysis sets out our priorities for health and care investment at the #SpendingReview.
For social care, just to meet demand and rising provider costs would need an extra £3.4bn by 2028/29; to improve access could be additional £6.4bn.
Read more in our full analysis ⬇️
https://bit.ly/4dGX4CS
For social care, just to meet demand and rising provider costs would need an extra £3.4bn by 2028/29; to improve access could be additional £6.4bn.
Read more in our full analysis ⬇️
https://bit.ly/4dGX4CS
June 6, 2025 at 11:00 AM
New analysis sets out our priorities for health and care investment at the #SpendingReview.
For social care, just to meet demand and rising provider costs would need an extra £3.4bn by 2028/29; to improve access could be additional £6.4bn.
Read more in our full analysis ⬇️
https://bit.ly/4dGX4CS
For social care, just to meet demand and rising provider costs would need an extra £3.4bn by 2028/29; to improve access could be additional £6.4bn.
Read more in our full analysis ⬇️
https://bit.ly/4dGX4CS
Reposted by Heather Smith
Let's make hospitals safer for people with #Parkinson's.
"On time," means supporting people to take their meds within 30mins of the prescribed time or symptoms could increase.
Excellent supportive resources here for hospitals and all HCPs.
#GetItOnTime
parkinsons.org.uk/professional...
#pharmsky
"On time," means supporting people to take their meds within 30mins of the prescribed time or symptoms could increase.
Excellent supportive resources here for hospitals and all HCPs.
#GetItOnTime
parkinsons.org.uk/professional...
#pharmsky
Time critical medication and Get It On Time campaign resources
Information and resources for professionals on time critical medication for Parkinson's, including the Get It on Time campaign and resources.
parkinsons.org.uk
June 3, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Let's make hospitals safer for people with #Parkinson's.
"On time," means supporting people to take their meds within 30mins of the prescribed time or symptoms could increase.
Excellent supportive resources here for hospitals and all HCPs.
#GetItOnTime
parkinsons.org.uk/professional...
#pharmsky
"On time," means supporting people to take their meds within 30mins of the prescribed time or symptoms could increase.
Excellent supportive resources here for hospitals and all HCPs.
#GetItOnTime
parkinsons.org.uk/professional...
#pharmsky
Prescription of 2 or more STOPPFall medications is independently associated with all falls, injurious and unexplained falls, all fractures and hip fractures. Review these meds! academic.oup.com/ageing/artic...
The association between STOPPFall medication use and falls and fractures in community-dwelling older people
AbstractIntroduction. Falls and fractures are common among older people. The Screening Tool of Older Persons Prescriptions in older adults with high fall r
academic.oup.com
June 6, 2025 at 7:06 AM
Prescription of 2 or more STOPPFall medications is independently associated with all falls, injurious and unexplained falls, all fractures and hip fractures. Review these meds! academic.oup.com/ageing/artic...
Reposted by Heather Smith
💡 Impactful Trial from @dremilymcd.bsky.social's team!
The randomized trial found combining electronic deprescribing reports with regular medication reviews in long-term care homes led to a 23.7% increase in #deprescribing! 📊
Read the full article here:
buff.ly/5s5D5id
The randomized trial found combining electronic deprescribing reports with regular medication reviews in long-term care homes led to a 23.7% increase in #deprescribing! 📊
Read the full article here:
buff.ly/5s5D5id
jamanetwork.com
June 4, 2025 at 4:04 PM
💡 Impactful Trial from @dremilymcd.bsky.social's team!
The randomized trial found combining electronic deprescribing reports with regular medication reviews in long-term care homes led to a 23.7% increase in #deprescribing! 📊
Read the full article here:
buff.ly/5s5D5id
The randomized trial found combining electronic deprescribing reports with regular medication reviews in long-term care homes led to a 23.7% increase in #deprescribing! 📊
Read the full article here:
buff.ly/5s5D5id
Reposted by Heather Smith
Comparative Safety of Medications for Severe Agitation: A Geriatric Emergency Department Guidelines 2.0 Systematic Review. #geriatrics agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
May 16, 2025 at 4:55 AM
Comparative Safety of Medications for Severe Agitation: A Geriatric Emergency Department Guidelines 2.0 Systematic Review. #geriatrics agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Heather Smith
Deprescribing Benzodiazepine Receptor Agonists in Older Adults and People With Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review. #geriatrics #geronsky agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
May 16, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Deprescribing Benzodiazepine Receptor Agonists in Older Adults and People With Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review. #geriatrics #geronsky agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Heather Smith
Day 1: @cpcongress.bsky.social
ENIGMA mentoring programme.
Superb showcase from previous mentee and @hadeelmohamed.bsky.social explaining this opportunity for women pharmacists, addressing needs for those from ethic minorities backgrounds.
I’m a mentor for ENIGMA too.
Whooping from the back! 🥳🙌🏽🫶🏽
ENIGMA mentoring programme.
Superb showcase from previous mentee and @hadeelmohamed.bsky.social explaining this opportunity for women pharmacists, addressing needs for those from ethic minorities backgrounds.
I’m a mentor for ENIGMA too.
Whooping from the back! 🥳🙌🏽🫶🏽
May 10, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Day 1: @cpcongress.bsky.social
ENIGMA mentoring programme.
Superb showcase from previous mentee and @hadeelmohamed.bsky.social explaining this opportunity for women pharmacists, addressing needs for those from ethic minorities backgrounds.
I’m a mentor for ENIGMA too.
Whooping from the back! 🥳🙌🏽🫶🏽
ENIGMA mentoring programme.
Superb showcase from previous mentee and @hadeelmohamed.bsky.social explaining this opportunity for women pharmacists, addressing needs for those from ethic minorities backgrounds.
I’m a mentor for ENIGMA too.
Whooping from the back! 🥳🙌🏽🫶🏽
Reposted by Heather Smith
Brilliant paper on why promethazine is not a good option to aid sleep, and yet prescribing of it has doubled in last 5 yrs. What about OTC sales too, and also diphenhydramine.
#anticholinergics
#falls #dementia #delirium
#ACBscore
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
#anticholinergics
#falls #dementia #delirium
#ACBscore
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Promethazine is not a good option to aid sleep quality, especially for people using psychiatric services | BJPsych Bulletin | Cambridge Core
Promethazine is not a good option to aid sleep quality, especially for people using psychiatric services
www.cambridge.org
April 24, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Brilliant paper on why promethazine is not a good option to aid sleep, and yet prescribing of it has doubled in last 5 yrs. What about OTC sales too, and also diphenhydramine.
#anticholinergics
#falls #dementia #delirium
#ACBscore
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
#anticholinergics
#falls #dementia #delirium
#ACBscore
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Heather Smith
Insightful editorial in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) @agsjournal.bsky.social from @drklam.bsky.social and his team, highlighting the following key points (see Thread):
buff.ly/Wo1lnxD
@amergeriatrics.bsky.social
buff.ly/Wo1lnxD
@amergeriatrics.bsky.social
agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
April 21, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Insightful editorial in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) @agsjournal.bsky.social from @drklam.bsky.social and his team, highlighting the following key points (see Thread):
buff.ly/Wo1lnxD
@amergeriatrics.bsky.social
buff.ly/Wo1lnxD
@amergeriatrics.bsky.social
